By Ahmad Fuad Yahya, NNN-Bernama
Rome : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says he believes the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan can be resolved if the various problems faced by the villagers in the region can be resolved.
He said he had made a proposal on the matter to the Sudanese authorities and several leaders of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) ofwhich he is the current chairman.
“The people of Sudan who have gathered there come from their villages owing to many problems; not only due to poverty, lack of food, water and medicines but also due to the threat to their safety.
It is for these reasons that they have fled their villages and gathered in Darfur,” he told Malaysian journalists here.
Abdullah, who arrived Sunday for a three-day official visit to Italy, said that during his recent visit to Darfur, the people there had expressed their intention to return to their villages if they could be assured of their safety and they had access to food, water and medicines.
“They also want education facilities for their children,” he said.
Abdullah said he had assured several community leaders there of Malaysia’s assistance in providing school facilities and had asked Petronas, Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company, which has operations in Sudan, to help out in the matter.
Petronas has begun to provide educational assistance to the people of Sudan, he added.