Powell visit is welcomed by Sudan refugees

ABU SHOUK, Sudan -- Surrounded by thousands of chanting victims of violence, Secretary of State Colin Powell strode through a sprawling refugee camp in western Sudan yesterday to put pressure on the Sudanese government to ease the humanitarian crisis that has left more than 1 million people homeless.

Powell, who was accompanied by Sudan's foreign minister, demanded that the government bring under control the marauding Arab militias that have attacked black African villages and lift restrictions hindering the delivery of food and medicine to more than 100 camps in Darfur, a region larger than France.

"Camps are good for temporary purposes, but that cannot be the answer," Powell said after a 15-minute walking tour. "We are anxious to see the end of militarism. We are anxious to see the Janjaweed (militias) brought under control and disbanded so people can leave camps in safety and go back to their homes."

Powell's visit came as the United States increased pressure on Sudan with a draft resolution calling on the United Nations to impose an arms embargo and travel ban on the Arab militias that are blamed for attacks in Sudan's western Darfur region. But the new Security Council resolution would not impose sanctions against the Khartoum government, Reuters reported.

Later, in a joint news conference with Powell, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail promised a crackdown on the militias and said the government would take steps to improve the flow of humanitarian aid.

"We will combat any militias and Janjaweed so that we secure the protection of civilians," Ismail said in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. He added, "We are going to work on lifting any restrictions on humanitarian aid."

After flying to western Sudan from Khartoum, Powell met first in the nearby town of Fasher with representatives of humanitarian relief organizations and monitors from a commission overseeing a tenuous cease-fire between rebel groups and the government. Powell then drove over a dried mud plain in an armored Chevrolet Suburban with Washington license plates that had been flown here for his visit.

In 95-degree heat and a threatening sandstorm, crowds swarmed around Powell as he walked past watering holes and fragile shelters of wood sticks and plastic sheeting or thatch. Powell clapped his hands as the crowd clapped and cheered.

Aid officials said this camp of 40,000 people is one of the best-maintained in the region, but even here malnutrition is rampant among the children. Irfan Sulejmann, an International Red Cross official, said he helped set up the camp in April after a measles outbreak at another camp that one US official said killed hundreds of children.

About 80 percent of people in the camp are women and children, officials said. But many of the people following Powell, especially the men, were well-dressed and appeared well-fed. There had been reports that the government had moved some people out of the camp and brought more cooperative replacements to greet Powell, but he told reporters later that "whether all of the folks lived in the camp or some came in for the day isn't relevant."

Powell said the visit "put texture" on the reports he had received in Washington about conditions here and reinforced his belief that security must be improved so people could leave the camps. He said he had delivered a "steady message" to Ismail, the foreign minister, that the violence in the area must be answered.

"The solution has to rest with the government doing what's right," Powell said.