Mission Hears Armed Men Attacked Darfur Villages

UN Mission Hears That Armed Men Attacked Villages in Southern Darfur, Sudan

New York, Nov 10 2005 5:00PM

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today said it had received an unconfirmed report that some 1,500 armed men attacked and burned six villages in southern Darfur earlier this week, killing a dozen and a half people.

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative, Jan Pronk, said he had notified the Sudanese Government that a UN expert panel monitoring the arms embargo was mishandled over the weekend.

UNMIS said the report indicated that on Sunday and Monday the armed group travelling on camels and horses and in vehicles killed 18 people, wounded 16 others, and attacked and burned the Dar es Salam, Jamali, Funfo, Tabeldyad, Um Djantara, Um Putrum villages in the Gereida area of Darfur.

The African Union (AU) was notified of these reports and intended to investigate them, UNMIS said.

Secretary General's Special Representative in Sudan, Jan Pronk, reported that he sent a demarche, or diplomatic protest, to the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It pertained to an incident on Saturday in which two members of the UN arms embargo panel had been manhandled, forcibly restrained and suffered abrasions, despite the fact that they had clearly identified themselves and their capacity.

Mr. Pronk said he met today with the State Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said the behaviour of Military Intelligence "had been wrong" and promised that the panel's mission would not be hindered further.

ENDS

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