U.N. Says Sudan Terrorizing Civilians

U.N. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland speaks to the media in Khartoum, Sudan Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006 where he said that the crisis in Darfur could become "infinitely worse" if a key deal reached this week to send a mixed United Nations and African force to the war-torn region is not applied quickly. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by three years of fighting in the vast, arid Darfur region of western Sudan. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf) (Abd Raouf - AP)

"The role of the United Nations will be to provide support units and technical assistance to the African mission," Akol told reporters. "There is no way the main fighting force would be a mixed one."

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has firmly opposed any deployment of U.N. troops in Darfur to replace the 7,000 ill equipped and poorly funded AU peacekeepers who have been unable to stop the bloodshed.

But other officials have said a combined force would not pose a problem providing that its leadership and the bulk of its troops were African _ a sign that Sudan's political leadership may be sending mixed messages in order to avoid the appearance of a policy shift in the face of Western pressure.

Still Egeland said he was confident all parties involved would soon reach a final agreement for a beefed-up force.

"I have no reason to disbelieve the sincerity of the Sudanese negotiators in Addis," he told reporters, adding that he hoped time would not be wasted "wrangling on words."

Another senior U.N. official in Sudan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said he feared the new deal could just be a smokescreen for Khartoum to buy time as its militias rampage through Darfur.

U.N. officials and humanitarian workers have said that violence in Darfur has only increased since the government and the main Darfur rebel group signed a peace agreement in May.

"Civilians are being killed as we speak," Egeland said, warning that the crisis "still has the potential of becoming infinitely worse."

He said a similar raid in Jebel Moon last month showed that the children were not accidental casualties.

"It is not so-called collateral damage," Egeland said. "It is the intentional killing of children."

Separately, the AU said in a statement Saturday it received reports the Sudanese air force twice bombed the Birmaza rebel zone in North Darfur this week. The attacks, conducted jointly with armed militia groups, took a "heavy toll on the civilian population," the AU said.

The Sudanese government says uniformed fighters belong to regular forces and don't commit war crimes, while those clad in traditional garb are bandits it does not control. A government investigation said the Jebel Moon killing was committed by "renegade Arab bandits."

Egeland said aid workers' ability to carry out their humanitarian mission was "crumbling" because of the violence and underscored the urgent need to beef up the peacekeeping force.