Sudanese Forces Tighten Grip On Darfur Camp

Sudan boosted forces outside a volatile camp for displaced people in Darfur on Tuesday, sparking fears of new armed clashes, as rebels said that up to 36 people had been killed in fighting a day earlier.
Police moved into the impoverished and volatile Kalma in South Darfur on Monday. Casualty figures from subsequent clashes are impossible to verify, but residents have asked UN troops for burial sheets and protection for funerals.
Government security officers described Kalma, which one aid worker said was the size of a small city, as a den of outlaws, armed robbers and rebel movements hoarding weapons, ammunition, explosives, narcotics and stolen goods.
"It seems last night there was a build-up of security forces around the camp," one UN official told AFP.
A Kalma community leader, Adam Mohamed, told AFP by telephone on Tuesday that more security vehicles had surrounded the camp, where conditions for the 80,000 residents were miserable and homes had been washed away by rain.
"The police force will remain in its place until it enters the camp to collect the stockpiled weapons and prevent the rebels from getting inside the camp," state media quoted the South Darfur security committee as saying.