WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US State Department on Tuesday criticized the Sudanese government for appointing to a senior position a man accused of involvement in the atrocities in Darfur.
Musa Hilal, who is subject to both US and UN sanctions as an alleged leader of the Janjaweed militia, was appointed special advisor to President Omar al-Beshir, according to Sudanese media.
"We deplore the government of Sudan's decision to name him to a senior position. He is under both US and UN sanctions for the role he played in Darfur," Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, told reporters.
In April 2006, he recalled, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Hilal and three other Sudanese nationals alleged to have committed war crimes in Darfur.
The measures, he said, required member states to freeze their financial assets and prevent them entering and passing through their countries.
Around the same time US President George W. Bush signed an executive order blocking Hilal and the other suspects from having any financial dealings in the United States.
During a visit to Turkey, Beshir on Monday defended Hilal's appointment.
"Musa Hilal is an influential person in Darfur. Through his leadership, he has contributed greatly to security and stability in the region. We believe the accusations against him are baseless," Beshir said.
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch has also condemned Hilal's appointment and called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to raise the matter when he is due to meet Beshir at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa in February.
HRW said that "Hilal and his men played an integral role in the two-year campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Sudanese army and Janjaweed militia" in Darfur.
"Scores of victims, witnesses to attacks, and even members of the Sudanese armed forces have named Hilal as the top commander of government-backed Janjaweed militias responsible for numerous atrocities in Darfur in 2003 and 2004," it said.
According to UN estimates, more than 200,000 people have died and more than two million people have been displaced in Darfur as a result of the combined effect of war, famine and disease since the conflict erupted more than four years ago.
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