And in the Sudan....
Albright 'outraged' by reports of Sudanese attacks on civilians
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[ Latest News From Sudan At Sudan.Net ]
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News Article by AFP on February 17, 2000 at 02:13:34:
Albright 'outraged' by reports of Sudanese attacks on civilians
WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright is "outraged" by reports that Sudan's government attacked a
school in its ongoing battle against southern rebels, her spokesman
said Wednesday.
Albright met on Tuesday at the State Department with Sudanese
Bishop Macram Max Gassis who told her an aerial bombing of a school
in the Nuba Mountain region earlier this month had killed at least
14 young children and a teacher and wounded 20 more people, James
Rubin said.
"Secretary Albright expressed her outrage of the government of
Sudan's bombing of a school on February 8 and called on Khartoum to
cease its aerial bombardments of civilian targets," Rubin said in a
statement.
On Monday, Khartoum said civilians in the central Nuba mountains
may have been unintentionally hit in recent air strikes and said it
would try to avoid such accidents in the future.
But Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said the
attack occurred in an area "where the rebels gather their forces."
It was unclear whether Ismail was referring to the school
described by Gassis.
Rubin said that Albright had resolved after speaking to Gassis
to redouble US efforts to bring an end to the civil war pitting the
Islamic government in Khartoum against mainly Christian rebels in
the south that has wracked Sudan for 16 years.
"Appalled by Gassis' description of the government's bombing
campaign against civilian targets, Secretary Albright reaffirmed the
determination of the United States to do everything it can to bring
an end to the tragic civil war in Sudan," Rubin said.
He noted that the United States was a major supplier of food aid
to the southern part of Sudan, was a chief supporter of a regional
initiative to end the conflict and had recently appointed a special
envoy to deal with the situation.
Rubin's statement was released after Albright was quizzed by
lawmakers on what Washington was doing to help end suffering in
Sudan while testifying to the House International Relations
Committee. |
