[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 7 (Monday, February 21, 1994)]
[Page 286]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement by the Press Secretary on the Military Offensive in Sudan

February 12, 1994

    The administration condemns the new military offensive by the armed 
forces of the Government of Sudan on populations in the south. These 
outrageous attacks on civilian and military targets demonstrate a 
callous lack of concern for the lives of innocent Sudanese and a 
disregard for efforts to promote peace. This offensive will only 
increase the suffering of the Sudanese people, create thousands of new 
refugees, and undermine the ongoing international humanitarian relief 
effort.
    In response, the President has directed a number of diplomatic and 
humanitarian actions to be taken. He has instructed Ambassador Donald 
Petterson in Khartoum to protest vigorously this military action to the 
Government of Sudan. The State Department called in the Sudanese 
Ambassador in Washington to underscore our concern over the military 
offensive and especially the indiscriminate bombing of civilians. Our 
Ambassador in Kenya is urging leaders in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and 
Eritrea to redouble their efforts, through the Intergovernmental 
Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD), to stop the fighting and 
to bring about peace in Sudan. The President also intends to appoint a 
high-level Special Envoy to Sudan to assist efforts to achieve a cease-
fire and permanent peace agreement there.
    Since fiscal year 1993, we have provided more than $160 million in 
humanitarian assistance to the people of southern Sudan. In response to 
this latest tragedy, we are consulting with nongovernmental 
organizations in order to identify new ways to facilitate humanitarian 
assistance in Sudan. We are also conducting an assessment of anticipated 
needs in preparation for increased food aid to Sudanese refugees in 
Uganda, Kenya, and Zaire. We will consult with our Special Humanitarian 
Representative for Sudan, Ambassador John Burroughs, when he returns 
next week.
    Despite the Government of Sudan's participation in regional 
humanitarian summits, it continues to violate humanitarian principles, 
causing further loss of life and hardship in the region. We call on the 
Government of Sudan to cease these actions and recognize that the future 
political and economic stability of Sudan depends upon all parties' 
respecting basic humanitarian principles.