AIRLA memo to PM shows solidarity with Darfur crisis

New Delhi, Aug 9 (UNI) The All India Religious Leaders Association (AIRLA) will submit today a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh highlighting the need to take the Darfur crisis to an international forum and to show solidarity with the people who have suffered in the 5-year-old civil war in Sudan.

Expressing full support to the crisis-hit Sudanese people, the AIRLA has also conveyed the feelings of the Indian people against the ''arbitrariness of the International Criminal Court (ICC),'' the memorandum signed by Moulana Syed Peerzada Shabbir Naqshbandi said.

The AIRLA has also decided to launch a nationwide campaign to mobilise public opinion against the ongoing crisis created by the ICC in the war-torn African State.

''We understand your feeling at this hour of crisis and in this regard we have decided to launch a nationwide campaign at our home country to mobilise the public opinion against the ongoing crisis by the ICC,'' said a letter to Sudan President Omar Al Bashier.

On an invitation by Sudanese Ambassador to India Abdel Rahman Mohammad Bakhiet , a three-member goodwill delegation of AIRLA would pay a brief visit to Sudan and call on the President showing solidarity with the Sudanese people.

The Darfur conflict erupted in early 2003. Fighting among various factions has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million, most escaping to larger towns where they stay in camps and some crossing the border into Chad, where they live in refugee camps.

Attacks on civilians during the conflict have been brutal and include burning homes, killing and rape.

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