Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Bush promises to stay engaged on Sudan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-06 12:05

WASHINGTON  – US President George W. Bush promised on Monday not to forget after he leaves office about violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan, which the United States has described as genocide.

US President George W. Bush (R) meets with First Vice President of the Government of National Unity of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington January 5, 2009.[Agencies]

Two weeks before stepping down, Bush met Salva Kiir, who led rebels fighting for autonomy for Sudan's animist or Christian south from the Muslim north in a civil war that claimed 2 million lives.

Kiir asked Bush whether he was "still going to care about Sudan" after he leaves office.

"And the answer is absolutely," Bush said.

Bush claimed some personal credit for helping to broker the north-south peace agreement, saying it was "negotiated under my watch" and said the United States must pay close attention to its implementation.

Barack Obama takes over from Bush as US President on January 20.

On Darfur, Bush thanked Kiir for efforts to bring rebel groups together to negotiate with the Islamist government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and said he supported a long-delayed airlift of equipment to help peace keepers there.

The United States has tense relations with Bashir, who came to power in Africa's largest country in a 1989 coup.

An African force has been trying to keep peace Darfur but has been hamstrung by inadequate numbers in the vast region and a lack of equipment.

Experts say some 200,000 people have died in Darfur and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes in nearly six years of civil war marked by frequent attacks on civilians.