WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- President Bush met Wednesday with South African President Thabo Mbeki and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer over help for Sudan's Darfur region.
"We talked about several situations that are of concern to our government, most notably Darfur," Bush said after talks with Mbeki, whose country has peacekeepers in Darfur. "This is a serious situation. As you know, Secretary of State Colin Powell, with my concurrence, declared the situation a genocide."
Darfur is located in Sudan. Its people are primarily Christian or animist and of black African stock. Sudan's more Arab peoples, through Islamist militias, have targeted them for years. Since February 2003 up to 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur in fighting between anti-government rebels and pro-government militias.
Bush said he would discuss how the United States and NATO can cooperate to support an African Union peacekeeping force and cooperate in the delivering of humanitarian supplies.
"We are working with NATO to make sure that we are able to help the AU put combat troops there," Bush said. "And as part of that, I believe a transport plane of ours, for example, will be part of the mission."
