[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 19 (Monday, May 15, 2006)]
[Pages 884-886]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on a Peace Agreement in Sudan

May 8, 2006

    I want to thank the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, for 
joining me, and I also want to thank Deputy Secretary of State Bob 
Zoellick. He has just briefed me on his trip

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to Abuja, where he has played a very important role in setting up a 
peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and a major rebel group 
in the Darfur region.
    Congratulations on a job well done, Bob. Thank you.
    Last week, we saw the beginnings of hope for the people of Darfur. 
The Government of Sudan and the largest rebel group signed an agreement 
and took a step toward peace. Many people worked hard for this 
achievement. I'm particularly grateful for the leadership of President 
Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Sassou-Nguesso of Congo. Deputy 
Secretary Zoellick told me of their really fine work, and I had the 
honor of calling both of them to thank them over the phone the other 
day. Their personal hands-on involvement was vital.
    We're still far away from our ultimate goal, which is the return of 
millions of displaced people to their homes so they can have a life 
without fear. But we can now see a way forward.
    Sudan is one of the most diverse nations in Africa and one of the 
most troubled countries in the world. A 22-year-old civil war between 
north and south took more than 2 million lives before a peace agreement 
was made that the United States helped to broker. About the same time, 
another conflict was raging in the west, and that's in Sudan's vast 
Darfur region.
    Darfur rebel groups had attacked Government outposts. To fight that 
rebellion, Sudan's regime armed and unleashed a horse-mounted militia 
called the Janjaweed, which targeted not only rebels but the tribes 
thought to be supporting them. The Janjaweed murdered men, and they 
raped women, and they beat children to death. They burned homes and 
farms and poisoned wells. They stole land to graze their own herds. 
Hundreds of villages were destroyed, leaving a burnt and barren 
landscape.
    About 200,000 people have died from conflict, famine, and disease. 
And more than 2 million were forced into camps inside and outside their 
country, unable to plant crops or rebuild their villages. I've called 
this massive violence an act of genocide, because no other word captures 
the extent of this tragedy.
    A cease-fire was declared in this conflict in April 2004, but it has 
been routinely violated by all sides. The Janjaweed continued to attack 
the camps and rape women who ventured outside the fences for food and 
firewood. The Government took no effective action to disarm the 
militias, and the rebels sometimes attacked food convoys and aid 
workers.
    An African Union force of about 7,200 from the region has done all 
it can to keep order, but they're patrolling an area nearly the size of 
Texas, and they have reached the limits of their capabilities. With the 
peace agreement signed on Friday, Darfur has a chance to begin anew. 
Sudan's Government has promised to disarm the Janjaweed by mid-October 
and punish all those who violate the cease-fire. The main rebel group 
has agreed to withdraw into specified areas. Its forces will eventually 
be disarmed as well, and some of its units will be integrated into the 
national army and police.
    The African Union will meet a week from today, urge its members to 
help implement this new agreement.
    Our goal in Darfur is this: We want civilians to return safely to 
their villages and rebuild their lives. That work has begun and 
completing it will require even greater effort by many nations. First, 
America and other nations must act to prevent a humanitarian emergency 
and then help rebuild that country. America is the leading provider of 
humanitarian aid, and this year alone, we account for more than 85 
percent of the food distributed by the World Food Programme in Sudan.
    But the situation remains dire. The World Food Programme has issued 
an appeal for funds necessary to feed 6 million people over the next 
several months. The United States has met our commitment, but other 
major donors have not come through. As a result, this month, the World 
Food Programme was forced to cut rations by half.
    So I proposed in the emergency supplemental before Congress to 
increase food aid to Sudan by another $225 million. I hope Congress will 
act swiftly on this true emergency. To get food to Darfur quickly, I've 
directed USAID to ship emergency food

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stockpiles. I've directed five ships and ordered them to be loaded with 
food and proceed immediately to Port Sudan. I've ordered the emergency 
purchase of another 40,000 metric tons of food for rapid shipment to 
Sudan. These actions will allow the World Food Programme to restore full 
food rations to the people of Darfur this summer.
    Americans who wish to contribute money to help deliver relief to the 
people of Darfur can find information about how to do so by going to the 
USAID web site at www.usaid.gov and clicking on the section marked 
``Helping the Sudanese People.''
    Moving forward, we cannot keep people healthy and fed without other 
countries standing up and doing their part as well. The European Union 
and nations like Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Japan 
have taken leadership on other humanitarian issues, and the people of 
Darfur urgently need more of their help now.
    In addition, the Government of Sudan must allow all U.N. agencies to 
do their work without hindrance. They should remove the visa and travel 
restrictions that complicate relief efforts. And all sides must cease 
attacks on relief workers.
    And finally, the United States will be an active participant in the 
Dutch-led reconstruction and development conference. And it's an 
important conference. It will take place within the next couple of 
months, to help the people get back on their feet so they can live 
normal lives in Darfur.
    Second, America and other nations must work quickly to increase 
security on the ground in Darfur. In the short term, the African Union 
forces in Darfur need better capabilities. So America is working with 
our NATO allies to get those forces immediate assistance in the form of 
planning, logistics, intelligence support, and other help. And I urge 
members of the alliance to contribute to this effort.
    In the longer term, the African Union troops must be the core of a 
larger military force that is more mobile and more capable, which 
generates better intelligence and is given a clear mandate to protect 
the civilians from harm. So I'm dispatching Secretary Rice to address 
the U.N. Security Council tomorrow. She's going to request a resolution 
that will accelerate the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur. 
We're now working with the U.N. to identify countries that contribute 
those troops so the peacekeeping effort will be robust.
    I've called on President--I just called President Bashir of Sudan, 
both to commend him on his work for this agreement and to urge the 
Government to express clear support for a U.N. force. The vulnerable 
people of Darfur deserve more than sympathy; they deserve the active 
protection that U.N. peacekeepers can provide.
    In recent weeks, we've seen drastically different responses to the 
suffering in Darfur. In a recent audio tape, Usama bin Laden attacked 
American efforts in Sudan and urged his followers to kill international 
peacekeepers in Darfur. Once again, the terrorists are attempting to 
exploit the misery of fellow Muslims and encourage more death. Once 
again, America and other responsible nations are fighting misery and 
helping a desperate region come back to life. And once again, the 
contrast could not be more clear.
    In late 2004 in Darfur, the Janjaweed attacked a village of a woman 
named Zahara. They raped her, murdered her husband, and set fire to 
their home. One of the attackers told her, ``This year there's no god 
except us. We are your god now.'' But you and I know that at all times, 
in all places, there is a just God who sides with the suffering and 
calls us to do the same. America will not turn away from this tragedy. 
We will call genocide by its rightful name, and we will stand up for the 
innocent until the peace of Darfur is secured.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:43 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin Laden, leader of 
the Al Qaida terrorist organization.