US issues strong warning to Sudan over Darfur

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2005

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States renewed its "grave concerns" over violence in Sudan's Darfur region and said flatly it would not fully normalize ties with Khartoum until the conflict was resolved.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the situation in Darfur, where some 70,000 people have died and 1.6 million have been displaced in the last two years, remained a "major priority" for Washington.

"We take this opportunity to underscore our grave concerns about the violence and atrocities in Darfur," Boucher said, referring to the conflict pitting government forces and their militia allies against rebels.

"The United States will not fully normalize relations with Sudan until the situation in Darfur has stabilized."

The United States...