October 4, 2004
U.S. Official: Sudan Darfur Deaths May Reach 300,000
Associated Press

The death toll in Sudan's conflict-ravaged Darfur region could rise six-fold by the end of the year — hitting 300,000 — because of worsening food shortages among refugees, a senior U.S. aid official said Monday.

By JONATHAN FOWLER, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA - The death toll in Sudan's conflict-ravaged Darfur region could rise six-fold by the end of the year — hitting 300,000 — because of worsening food shortages among refugees, a senior U.S. aid official said Monday.

The conflict already has killed at least 50,000 people and displaced 1.4 million villagers from their homes. More than 200,000 have crossed to neighboring Chad, where tensions have risen because of scarce resources for refugees, who are crammed into temporary camps.

"The crisis in Darfur has not yet peaked," said William J. Garvelink, deputy assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. "We have not yet seen the worst."

Earlier this year, USAID predicted that between 80,000 and 300,000 people could die if the situation failed to improve in Darfur. "We're now coming to the high side of that range," Garvelink told reporters.

The United Nations (news - web sites) and aid groups have dubbed Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Sudan's Arab-dominated government is accused of mobilizing an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed for attacks on Darfur's non-Arab villagers in retaliation for uprisings launched by two rebel movements in February 2003. Arab herdsmen have long competed for resources with Darfur's non-Arab population.

The government has denied the claims, although it acknowledges there is a "tribal conflict" in the western region.

The U.N. Security Council is investigating allegations leveled by the United States and some humanitarian groups that the government and the Janjaweed are guilty of genocide. Sudan also faces the threat of U.N. sanctions.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) on Monday urged the Sudanese government and rebels to end a separate, 21-year civil war in southern Sudan, saying a peace accord could spur an end to the crisis in Darfur.

In a report to the Security Council, Annan said the decision of the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement to resume negotiations on Thursday "restores much of the optimism that has been dissipating in recent months."

Negotiations in Naivasa, Kenya, broke off in July after failing to reach agreement on a permanent cease-fire to the conflict in southern and eastern Sudan.

"I urge the parties to seize the opportunity ... and use it to ensure that a comprehensive and lasting peace can take hold throughout Sudan," Annan said.

Annan also said in the report that the humanitarian situation in Sudan "remains dire" and he urged international donors to provide desperately needed funds.

The United States provided nearly $62 million to help some 185,000 refugees who fled into neighboring Chad from Darfur, the State Department reported Monday. In a statement, the department also said refugees were in urgent need and appealed to other countries to contribute.

After months of relying on scarce food handouts — when aid agencies have been able to reach refugee settlements — more than a million people in Darfur face severe malnutrition, Garvelink told reporters.

The harvest will provide temporary respite, but will only be a "blip" because many farmers have been unable to cultivate their fields, he said. When refugees stray out of their camps to forage for food, the men often face death and the women risk rape at the hands of the militias.

"We're going to see a tipping point in December, January or February," said Garvelink, who was in Geneva for a meeting of the U.N. refugee agency.

In another development, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites) traveled to Sudan Monday for a three-day state visit that Sudanese officials said marked a landmark in the relationship between the two countries Washington accuses of sponsoring terrorism.

"We think this visit will bring a great leap in the relationship between the two countries," Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said. Ismail said Sudanese leaders and Khatami would discuss the troubles in Darfur, as well as the violence in Iraq (news - web sites) and the Palestinian territories.

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