Sudan president promises to help Darfur

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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- Sudan's president vowed Wednesday to work to end the suffering of the people of Darfur and pushed for a peace deal modeled on January's accord that ended the 21-year southern civil war.

Omar al-Bashir's comments came the day after his vice president authorized Sudanese negotiators meeting Darfur rebel groups on September 15 to conclude an agreement to try to end the two-year conflict in western Sudan.

"The problem of Darfur and its repercussions remain a thorn in the country's back and a stain on the clean cloth of peace," the Sudanese president told 450 lawmakers at a session of the new parliament formed as a result of the southern peace deal.

Sudan, a nation ravaged by conflict for decades, has been basking in a period of rare optimism following the January signing of a peace deal that ended the southern war.

But the separate Darfur conflict in western Sudan has been raging since February 2003 after rebels from black African tribes took up arms after complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan's Arab-dominated government.

The United States accuses al-Bashir's government of responding by unleashing Arab tribal militia in a campaign of murder, rape and arson against black African tribes from Darfur.

More than 1.9 million people have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict began, while war-induced hunger and disease have killed more than 180,000 people, according to United Nations estimates.

Al-Bashir has denied claims that his government has backed the militia, known as the Janjaweed, in the violence and said Wednesday that Sudan's justice and security authorities are trying to secure areas where violence persists in Darfur and "apprehend the criminals and punish them."

He also said the southern comprehensive peace agreement, which outlined systems of power and wealth sharing and offered a referendum to southerners in six years to decide if they wanted autonomy, could serve as a model for Darfur's warring parties to follow.

"This would mean a just distribution of wealth and sharing of power [in Darfur] so that all claims of marginalization would end," al-Bashir said.

In a wide-ranging address to Sudan's parliament, al-Bashir also touched on the war in Iraq, with the Sudanese leader calling for the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces.

"We call for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq so that the Iraqi people would spell out their views on their own future," said al-Bashir. "We also stand with Iraq and its territorial integrity and security."

Lawmakers also chose ruling National Congress party member Ahmed Ibrahim Tahir, speaker for the outgoing parliament, to hold the post again.