Annan appeals for increased funds for Darfur, southern Sudan

KHARTOUM, May 27 (AFP) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan held talks in Khartoum and hailed donor pledges to support peacekeeping in Darfur, ahead of his trip to Sudan’s troubled western region, but stressed funding was also needed for the south’s post-war reconstruction.

UN SG Kofi Annan shakes hands with Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Khartoum Sudan, May 27, 2005. (AFP).

Annan said he was “very pleased” with the almost 292 million dollars promised at a donor conference on Thursday in Addis Ababas.

“I was very pleased with the meeting in Addis Ababa yesterday where the whole international community came together to offer assistance to the African Union,” Annan told a Khartoum press conference with Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail.

The African Union (AU), which is observing a shaky ceasefire between Khartoum and Darfur’s ethnic minority rebels wants more than 460 million dollars in cash, military equipment and logistical support to boost its 2,700-strong operation to more than 7,700 by September.

But Annan said additional resources were needed to cover both Darfur’s relief effort and the reconstruction of Sudan’s pacified South.

“What we need is additional resources to cover both crises and we are appealing to the donors to really help us get the resources required to get the job done,” he said.

He warned that lack of funding in South Sudan, where a landmark peace deal was clinched between southern rebels and Khartoum’s government in the north in January, may jeopardize the agreement’s implementation.

“It is a shame that in the South we have a peace agreement but we don’t have the resources required,” he said, noting that donors seemed to have shifted support to Darfur.

“We should not allow the peace agreement to get into trouble for a lack of money,” he said.

A transitional government with former southern rebels and Khartoum officials is to be formed in July.

Annan is to travel to Darfur on Saturday where he said he will “see the situation for myself,” since his last visit to the region a year ago.

He said he discussed with Ismail “the need for us to do everything we can to bring security to Darfur and to ensure that the farmers can go back to their land, plant and cultivate and harvest their crops.

“Otherwise, we are going to have a major humanitarian effort which will stretch the capacities of the international community.”

The launch of an uprising by Darfur ethnic minority rebels in early 2003 prompted the Khartoum government to unleash Arab militias in a scorched-earth campaign in which some 300,000 people died and more than two million were displaced.

Annan said he was hopeful that negotiations between rebels and Khartoum, set to resume in Nigeria’s capital on June 10, would yield a peace deal.

“I hope when they get there this time, they are going to stay there and negotiate in a sustained manner until they get an agreement,” he said.

Ismail said his government “is determined to make of the forthcoming Abuja talks the final one.”

The last round of peace talks in Abuja broke down six months ago.

Ismail, meanwhile, reiterated his government’s unwillingness to hand over alleged war criminals in Dafur, among them Sudanese officials, to an international court in line with a late March UN resolution.

“We will cooperate with this resolution but it should be clear that it is the Sudanese courts alone that will try the Sudanese suspects,” he said.

Annan aired hope resolution 1593 would be respected nonetheless.

A late Friday meeting between Annan and Sudan’s Vice President Ali Osman Taha later was postponed to Saturday evening when the secretary general comes back from Dafur, officials said.

Annan is due to visit the South Darfur state capital of Nyala and nearby camps, home to many people displaced by the conflict.

On Sunday, the focus of Annan’s visit switches to south Sudan where he will hold talks with Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s (SPLM) leader John Garang.