Sudanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Ahmed Karti said that the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur has become a card in elections in the United States, the Sudan Vision Daily reported on Sunday.

The steps taken by the US administration on the Darfur issue were aimed at "getting satisfaction of American voters in the complementary elections for the Congress and to gratify humanitarian and Jewish organizations that are funding the American elections", Karti was quoted as saying.

"The Darfur issue has become a subject of internal discussion and competition between the American parties in their race for getting power at the administration," the minister added.
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US President George W. Bush repeated the charge of genocide in Darfur when he addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly earlier this week and he appointed a special envoy to bring more pressure on the Khartoum government under the leadership of President Omar el-Bashir.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that violence was getting worse in Darfur despite international peace efforts, urging the UN to take actions in case that Khartoum failed to make a quick response to the call for international peacekeepers.

Meanwhile, Karti accused Israel of attempting to distort the situation in Darfur and supporting the armed opposition in Sudan.

Karti said that "Zionist organizations" were funding major US newspapers so as to reflect a distorted image on the situation in Darfur.

He also accused Israel of providing weapons and ammunition for the armed opposition in Sudan and helping them to establish extensive relations with European and other countries.

"Israel is targeting the states and the groups that do not recognize it, and seeking to establish a security belt for its interest which extends from the River Nile till Euphrates," the Sudanese minister noted.

Sudan has rejected a UN Security Council resolution adopted on Aug. 31 authorizing up to 22,500 troops and police to replace the cash-strapped and ill-equipped AU troops in Darfur.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2005)