Darfur now secure and peaceful-Sudanese president

EL-FASHER, Sudan, July 22 (Reuters) Most of Darfur is now secure and peaceful, and the region's negative image is due to ''black propaganda'' spread by the United States and Britain, senior Sudanese officials said today.

Following a tour of Darfur's three war-ravaged states, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir rejected foreign intervention in the four-year conflict, in which international experts say 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million more displaced.

After opening a number of new hospitals, wells and a renovated football stadium, Bashir catalogued the works his government had done for the region.

''During our visit we confirmed that most of Darfur is now secure and enjoying real peace,'' Bashir told around 35 ministers in an open cabinet meeting.

''People are living normal lives.'' Khartoum says only 9,000 people have died in the violence that started when mostly non-Arab rebels accused the central government of neglecting the region and took up arms.

To stem the revolt, Khartoum mobilised militias, who now stand accused of rape, pillage and murder. Washington says the central government and militias are guilty of genocide, a charge Bashir's administration rejects.

''There has been a lot of black propaganda about Darfur and Sudan, lies, hypocrisy, speaking about racial cleansing,'' said Interior Minister Zubeir Bashir Taha.

''The Bush-Blair axis has been responsible for this black propaganda and we'd like to show them this is not the case.'' During Bashir's tour, he did not visit Darfur's refugee camps, home to the world's largest humanitarian operation. The ministers also met no Darfuri war victims and spent much of the day in an air-conditioned hall.

Bashir said he had met with leaders of the camp communities who wanted to go home voluntarily.

Most of Bashir's ministers voiced their support, but one, from the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said the conflict could not be ignored.

''If people continue to say that there's no problem in Darfur then we will never solve the problem of Darfur,'' said Minister of Investment Malik Agar. ''It's like a bleeding thumb.'' The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrests warrants for junior cabinet Minister Ahmed Haroun and an allied militia leader, both accused of conspiring to commit war crimes.

Haroun was present at the meeting. Unable to travel outside Sudan or greet international delegations, he represents the ruling party at most official functions.

REUTERS RJ RAI2248