EFL
AL-FASHER, Sudan (AP) - American civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the conflict-torn region of Darfur on Friday, urging the Sudanese government and African rebels to end the crisis that has killed thousands of villagers and driven more than a million from their homes.Arriving in the provincial capital of North Darfur in an aircraft lent by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Jackson said he wanted to "observe first hand what we have heard through testimony and what we have read."
"It is obvious there is a great humanitarian crisis," Jackson told The Associated Press after landing at an airport in the North Darfur capital of Al-Fasher, where he was met by a delegation of tribal leaders and officials."We call for collective action soon to stop the violence and open up the roads for relief and that requires a worldwide effort," said Jackson, who wore a black baseball cap bearing the logo "Unite.""Timing is of the essence as people are dying every day."
Meanwhile...
Jackson, who has appealed to Gadhafi to help solve the Darfur problem, was later briefed on the crisis by North Darfur governor Othman Mohammed Youssef at his Al-Fasher residence. "We agree that we have a problem in Darfur. There is suffering, there is displacement, it is all happening, but not at the levels which is reflected in international media," Youssef told Jackson during the briefing attended by senior local and military officials.
Translation: Mind your own business. Even here in Sudan we know how irrelevant YOU are, Shakedown. Now make like a banana and get the hell out of here! |