Bush, Citing Darfur `Genocide,' Demands Cease-Fire

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan amounted to ``genocide'' and demanded the Sudanese government and rebel groups cease hostilities to let aid reach victims of the conflict.

Bush told the United Nations Security Council that ``time is of the essence'' in taking action to stop the killing and that more international forces are needed.

``Maybe some don't think it's genocide,'' he said today. ``If you are mercilessly killed by roaming bands, you know it is genocide. And the fundamental question is, are we in the free world willing to do more?''

The U.S. is the only nation on the Security Council that has branded the four-year-old conflict in Darfur region of Sudan as genocide. More than 200,000 people have died and 2 million have been driven from their homes. Bush called on the government of President Umar al-Bashir and rebels to observe a cease-fire during peace talks scheduled for next month in Libya.

Bush said he expected all members of the council to take steps that will halt the flow of arms to Darfur and implement UN sanctions imposed on Sudan's government and rebel groups.

``We want the words of this Security Council to mean something,'' Bush said. ``We want words followed by action. The conflict in Darfur has claimed too many lives. There is too much suffering.''

Bush praised the Security Council resolution adopted today that backed deployment of as many as 3,000 European Union soldiers and UN police to Chad and Central African Republic to protect people who fled violence in Darfur.

Protecting Civilians

The resolution, written by France, says the ``multidimensional presence'' of EU and UN forces should protect civilians, help the governments in Chad and Central African Republic deal with refugees, and assist the delivery of humanitarian aid. The measure authorized the EU contingent to stay for one year and said the UN should plan for a UN peacekeeping mission to take its place.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that to help prevent future conflicts he would ask the General Assembly to back a ``significant strengthening'' of his Department of Political Affairs. The department would be expanded and given greater responsibility to mediate African conflicts.

African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said the world has ``not yet learned'' all the lessons from Darfur and the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. At the same time, he cautioned the U.S. and Europe's former colonial powers that ``financing is important, but it does not authorize'' intervention.

The conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, began in February 2003 when rebels demanding a greater share of Sudan's political power and oil revenue began attacking government forces. Authorities in the capital of Khartoum responded by dispatching troops and arming militias to attack the villages of Darfur's main African tribes, the Massaleit, Zaghawa and Fur.