Tens of thousands of people marched on United Nations offices in Khartoum on Wednesday to protest last week’s Security Council resolution on Darfur, rejecting any foreign intervention in the war-torn province.
After gathering outside the presidential palace, the marchers headed to the UN offices shouting ”Allah o Akhbar” (God is great) and waving banners in English and Arabic proclaiming ”Darfur is the graveyard of US” and ”No to foreign intervention”.
Many of the marchers were wearing students’ uniforms, green for the boys and blue for the girls, who were all wearing headscarves.
One contingent of youths was wearing black shirts and red headbands marked ”Martyrs Brigades”.
The protest was organised by an umbrella grouping of several political parties called the Association of Faith and the Motherland.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution last Friday giving Khartoum 30 days to disarm the pro-government Arab Janjaweed militia accused of committing atrocities against black civilians in Darfur.
It also requires Khartoum to allow free access for humanitarian groups and to secure the province to allow about 1,2-million displaced people and 150 000 refugees in neighbouring Chad to return home, or face international action.
The UN estimates that up to 50 000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than a million have fled their homes. — Sapa-AFP