Khartoum | Thursday
THE Sudanese government has denied the existence of slavery in Sudan, but pledged to stop the abduction of women and children in parts of central and southwestern Sudan.
The chairman of the state’s Committee for Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children, Dr. Ahmed al-Mufti, told reporters that slavery in Sudan was ”an unfounded allegation.”
Mufti was speaking after a meeting with an international fact-finding committee that arrived here late on Tuesday to probe slavery allegations.
He said Sudan is confronted with the problem of women and children being abducted in ”western Kordofan in central Sudan and southern Darfur in western Sudan.”
He added: ”We have drawn up a plan for completely eradicating the abduction phenomenon in six months’ time.”
Earlier, Mufti said that the government and his committee would ”offer unlimited cooperation with the fact-finding committee in carrying out its mission.”
The eight-member committee, comprising two Americans, two Britons, two Norwegians a French member and an Italian, arrived in Khartoum at the invitation of the foreign ministry.
The US State Department announced the mission last month to investigate ”slavery, abductions and forced servitude” in war-ravaged Sudan.
They will ”recommend steps that can be taken by parties to the conflict and the international community to end such abuses,” State Department representative Richard Boucher said.
The creation of the so-called ”eminent persons group” was agreed to by both Khartoum, which denies slavery is a problem in the country, and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in December 2001 after talks mediated by US special envoy John Danforth.
During their week-long mission, they will hold two days of talks with the abduction committee members and other officials in Khartoum before travelling to Nairobi, from where it will visit rebel-held areas in southern Sudan.
The committee is also due to visit southern Darfur State in the west of Sudan, where they will meet with local government officials as well as tribal leaders, Mufti said.
An eight-member team of experts accompanying the committee will stay behind for five to six weeks to carry on with the fact-finding task before it is rejoined by the committee in mid-May to prepare a final report, he said. – Sapa-AFP