Sudan's Darfur 'safer than Iraq'

Sudan's government has said it has handled the Darfur crisis better than the United States has dealt with Iraq.  Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismael told the BBC that US leaders were trying to use Darfur "immorally" ahead of next month's presidential elections. He was speaking after a meeting of regional leaders in Libya, at which Sudan hinted it may agree to Darfur having more control over its affairs. Some 70,000 people have died in Darfur, in what the US says is a "genocide". Pro-government Arab militias have forced some 1.5 million black African farmers and their families from their homes, after two rebel groups took up arms in February 2003. Mr Ismael said the international community should leave the complex ethnic politics of Darfur alone. "This is an African problem - it needs an African solution," he said. [more ]

• Pictured above: Brahim Khalil, a 17-year-old member of the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), patrols around Dorsa village in west Darfur, October 10, 2004. [more ]