28 October 2004

(Troops from Rwanda and Nigeria will bolster African Union force in Darfur)

Secretary of State Colin Powell says the security situation in the Darfur region of Sudan has yet to be stabilized, but the United States has been working with the African Union to put its troops in the region to help provide security.

During a radio interview October 28, Powell said the first aircraft bearing African Union troops was en route to Sudan. "They'll be coming initially from Rwanda and Nigeria to build up the force of about 300 now to several thousand," he said, "and I hope that will help."

Powell said that U.S. officials have been putting pressure on the Sudanese government "to do a better job of reining in these terrible militias."

Following is an excerpt from Powell's interview:
(begin excerpt)

[U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 28, 2004

INTERVIEW
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell On Bill Bennett's Morning in America
October 28, 2004
Washington, D.C.
(7:33 a.m. EDT)]

...

SECRETARY POWELL: ... We're doing a lot of things that are bringing people along. In Africa, we've had the most active program in African affairs of any administration in recent history: the President's expansion of the African Growth and Opportunity Act; what we're doing with the Millennium Challenge Account, the biggest increase in development assistance to nations that are coming along since the Marshall Plan; the HIV/AIDS program, you know, the greatest crisis facing the world, the President showed enormous leadership by putting forward a $15 billion program in addition to participating in the Global Health Fund with [U.N.] Secretary-General [Kofi] Annan; free trade, open trade, bringing nations out into the democratic world and in the world of market economics.

That's what we're doing, and we have done it ever since I gave my confirmation testimony back in 2001. That's been the President's agenda, that's been the President's goal, and we've been pretty successful about it. You don't read about it much because of issues like Iraq and the Middle East that tend to dominate the news.

MR. BENNETT: Yes. We're talking to Secretary of State Colin Powell. And one other thing. When you went to Sudan and we saw you there, mobbed by people, it was a very proud moment. I remember I said on this show, I said, "This is the guy you want representing this country." I was very proud, if I might say, sir, say so, sir, to you, of you, the President of the United States. We stepped up on that and led, didn't we? We're still leading. And what's the resistance? Why can't we get -- we don't want another Rwanda. How do we -- how are we doing there?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we're still leading and we're working with the United Nations and so many of the great nongovernmental organizations that provide assistance to desperate people.

Since I went there and since the President really stepped out in front of this whole issue, we have done a better job in getting aid and assistance to these folks, and I think we've been able to stabilize the situation in terms of people being able to survive in the camps. But the security situation hasn't been stable. We don't want to keep them in the camps. We want to get them back home.

So we've been working with the African Union to put in more African Union troops in order to provide a presence throughout the countryside that will give the people some security and some assurance that they can go home in safety. We've been pressing the Sudanese government to do a better job of reining in these terrible militias.

Just today, the first plane has headed into Sudan with African Union troops. They'll be coming initially from Rwanda and Nigeria to build up the force of about 300 now to several thousand, and I hope that will help.

But it's been a tough issue. There's still a long way to go. But the United States has been in the forefront of this, and President Bush has been speaking about this for a very long time, and I think he's mobilized the international community to help these people.

(end excerpt)