War in Sudan's Darfur 'is over'

The six-year war between forces loyal to Sudan's government and rebels in Darfur has effectively ended, the UN's military commander in the region says.

General Martin Agwai, who is leaving his post this week, said the vicious fighting of earlier years had subsided as rebel groups split into factions.

He says the region now suffers more from low-level disputes and banditry.

The UN says 300,000 people have died in Darfur, but the Sudanese government puts the figure at 10,000.

Almost three million people are said to have been displaced by the fighting.

Oppression claims

Gen Agwai, who commands thousands of troops from the UN and African Union, said the region now suffered more from "security issues" than full-blown conflict.

"Banditry, localized issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that," he said.

Similar comments from other officials have drawn derision from Western campaigners and some diplomats, who see them as an attempt to play down continuing violence in the region.

Gen Agwai said only one rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), posed a real threat.

Jem signed a peace deal with Khartoum in February, which paved the way for peace talks held in Egypt last month.

The war broke out in the arid and impoverished region early in 2003 when rebel groups including Jem attacked government targets, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favor of Arabs.

Pro-government militiamen hit back with brutal force, which the US says was a genocide.

Khartoum denies supporting the militias, but the international court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir accusing him of war crimes.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8224424.stm.