Group of Eight leaders today urged Sudan's government to immediately disarm Arab militias and other armed groups waging a campaign of looting, burning and rape in the remote western Darfur region.
A statement issued at the G8 summit in Georgia said the group looked to the United Nations to lead the international effort to avert "a major disaster" in Darfur, where about 1 million people have been displaced in what aid officials call one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
French President Jacques Chirac (L) shakes hands with U.S. President George W. Bush prior to their bilateral meeting at the G8 summit, in Sea Island, Georgia June 10, 2004. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
"We call especially on the Sudanese government to disarm immediately the Janjaweed and other armed groups which are responsible for massive human rights violations in Darfur," said the G8.
The statement was issued ahead of talks in Sea Island between G8 members and a delegation of African leaders invited to the summit.
The G8 said it welcomed a power-sharing deal signed on May 26th between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) but said it needed to be finalised and implemented as soon as possible.
These accords do not cover the separate civil war raging in Darfur.