Blair urged to send troops to alleviate Darfur crisis

The Tories have called on the Prime Minister to deploy British troops to Sudan "in a matter of days" unless the country's humanitarian crisis improves.

Shadow International Development Secretary John Bercow said that diplomatic efforts in the region had been "too little, too late", adding that military intervention to ensure the safety of Darfur inhabitants was "becoming inevitable".

A UN Security Council resolution ratified last week stated that action will be taken if Sudan does not disarm the Arab militias the world body accuses of "indiscriminate murders, rapes and other attacks" against civilians in the troubled Darfur region.

In camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Darfur, Sudanese government security officials are harassing residents who have spoken to foreign visitors, and have arrested and beaten several community leaders.

At least 1.2 million people are estimated to be internally displaced, while as many as 200,000 others live as refugees in neighbouring Chad because of the militia attacks and the fighting between government forces and two rebel groups.

Mr Bercow said today that Britain should "within a matter of days" if the humanitarian crisis does not improve. The Sudanese should immediately carry out a large-scale round-up and arrest of militia leaders, instigate trials and an independent international inquiry created into all human rights abuses, the Tory frontbencher said.

Mr Bercow, who visited the Sudan earlier this summer, reckoned there was "little or no hope" of the government in Khartoum respecting the wishes of the UN and disarming the militias. He dismissed Sudanese promises to act within 90 days as "nonsense, a smokescreen, a delaying tactic".

Referring to a promise made by Tony Blair in 2001 that any repeat of the Rwanda genocide would leave Britain with a moral duty to act, Mr Bercow added: "There is, and we have".

(gmcg)