Archbishop challenges the West to act in Sudan: 'too few voices' are protesting the war.

STAFF

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams attacked the West for failing to break the cycle of violence in Sudan because of its selfish mindset, reports the Church of England Newspaper.

A peace deal to end the 21-year civil war was signed last year, but there is little sign of aid reaching the people or of the bloodshed being halted, according to the archbishop.

In his Eastertide letter, he urged Christians to take a lead in bringing an end to the ongoing suffering.

Archbishop Williams said that he was disturbed by his recent visit to the war-torn nation as he witnessed a lack of improvement in the plight of the people. He was disappointed to see how poorly people have reacted to the Christian call to live for each other.

"Our ordinary selfishness must die so that others may find life around or through us," he said.

He said that the people of Southern Sudan are still waiting for basic aid a year after the peace agreement.

"Too few voices are raised in the wealthy world to protest. In Darfur, neither national nor international forces have found a way of breaking the cycle of brutal violence and terror.

"Too many of us human beings, it seems, are content that death should be at work in others so long as our own life is unaffected."

The lack of reconstruction that has taken place is leading to growing frustration and rising violence, according to the United Nation's Sudan envoy. Jan Pronk has recommended that African peacekeepers be reinforced in Darfur where fighting has continued. The repatriation of refugees to the south was suspended for two weeks after heavy fighting.