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EU pulls Darfur poll observers over safety fears

07 April 2010 21:01 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The European Union on Wednesday withdrew its election observers from Sudan’s Darfur region, saying safety fears were hindering their work, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
Sudan is days away from what should be its first multi-party presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections in 24 years, but opposition parties have said the polls in Darfur will be a farce while a seven-year conflict continues in the region.
"I have decided to come back with all the team. The six observers who are...in Darfur," Veronique De Keyser, who heads the EU’s election mission in Sudan, told reporters.
"In some parts of Darfur the violence is terrible. The humanitarians cannot access this area. And if aid cannot access, we cannot access," she told reporters earlier on a one-day trip to the war-torn region.
"We can only have a very partial view, so how can we observe properly in Darfur? The credibility of the mission is at stake. People have been asking how can you observe in Darfur, and this is a question I have to answer."
The EU team, which arrived in Darfur in mid March, consists of two observers in each of the three state capitals. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, hopes to legitimize his rule with a victory in next week’s polls.
Violence flared in Darfur in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan’s government, accusing it of neglecting to develop the region.
The United Nations estimates that up to 300,000 people may have died after the government mounted a counter insurgency, arming mostly Arab militias. Khartoum rejects the accusation, putting the death count at 10,000.
De Keyser said she was also worried after Bashir threatened to expel international observers who pushed for a delay in the ballot. Bashir has threatened to cut off their fingers and tongues.
"You don’t usually treat international observers you have invited like that. ... It doesn’t reflect the traditional hospitality of the Arab world," she said.