"A STARK NEW CHOICE IN DARFUR", OP-ED BY MICHAEL GERSON FT. RFK LAUREATE DR. MOHAMMED AHMED

By Michael Gerson Wednesday, March 25, 2009; Page A15

For years, the Sudanese regime, headed by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has acted the part of a terrorist gang, holding millions of refugees in Darfur camps hostage and warning the world not to make any sudden or aggressive moves. Now the world faces a question: What do we do when the captors begin killing their captives?

After the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on the charge of crimes against humanity, Bashir responded by expelling 13 international relief groups -- including four key partners of the World Food Program (WFP) responsible for distributing food to 1.1 million people in Darfur. In a stroke, Bashir removed about 35 percent of Darfur's food distribution capacity. And he has hinted that all international aid groups might be thrown out by year's end.

Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah, a physician and human rights advocate in Darfur, described to me a region "on the verge." Without international aid groups to organize supply, only about 9 percent of people in the camps have access to clean water. There is a serious meningitis outbreak, just as medical aid groups have been expelled. "People are likely to die very soon," says Ahmed.

Read the entire article:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032402466.html