|
Khartoum: Peacekeepers in Darfur plan to dispatch a team to investigate reports that Sudan's military this week bombed a village while the president was in the region preaching a message of peace.
Omar Al Bashir's indictment for genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prompted a two-day presidential tour of the region intended to rally public support and show the rest of world he was committed to making peace.
A rebel faction told the joint UN/African Union peacekeeping force that a bombing took place on Wednesday, a spokesman for the force said.
The alleged target was a village 40km south of Al Fasher, the town in which Al Bashir landed on the same day to begin his tour.
Reports of bombings in rebel-held areas regularly emerge from Darfur, and some are disproved while others are never confirmed. But there had been an increase in the frequency of reports in the past two weeks, according to aid agencies operating there.
The deployment of the UN/AU force has been hindered by the Sudanese government and, as of Saturday, its investigation team had not been able to reach the site of the reported bombing because it lacks helicopters and because roads had been rendered impassable by rain.
During the president's stage-managed trip, he pledged to deliver peace to Darfur as well as new roads, schools and water supplies.
Al Bashir is seeking to portray himself as a peace- maker focused on development as part of his efforts to rally international opposition to the ICC indictment, which African, Arab and Chinese leaders have said could further destabilise Sudan.
|
