EL GENEINA, Sudan (AP) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to work for peace in the vast remote region and for the return of hundreds of thousands forced by attacks to flee their homes.
Al-Bashir was speaking Thursday at an outdoor rally attended by several thousand supporters in the town of el Geneina in the far western part of Darfur. Last week, al-Bashir was indicted by an international prosecutor on charges of genocide in Darfur, where the U.N. says some 300,000 people died and another 2.5 million driven from their homes since the conflict began in 2003.
Al-Bashir has sought to cast himself as a peacemaker since he began his Darfur visit Wednesday when he also declared his intention to bring peace to the region.