US should push for urgent international force for Darfur : report
Dec 5, 2005 (WASHINGTON) — The United States should press for the urgent deployment of an international security force to protect civilians in Darfur, a major independent review of US policy on Africa said.
The panel, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, said that despite a push by US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, world efforts to stop crimes against humanity in the Sudanese region were “woeful.”
“The United States must press for urgent international action,” said the non partisan task force in a report titled “More than Humanitarianism, A Strategic Approach toward Africa.”
“The AU (African Union) must be convinced that despite its efforts to do so, it is not capable of mobilizing and deploying the full 13,000 peacekeepers it has promised,” the report said.
“The AU is concerned about losing credibility if it seeks outside help in deployment and command. But it risks an even worse loss of credibility if the situation continues to deteriorate.”
The report urged the AU to request the United Nations to authorize a coalition of willing nations to offer a “protective force” including elements from Africa, to protect internally displaced people in Sudan.
It argued that only a “non-UN coalition” could deploy quickly enough and said any force would need a robust mandate to enable it to defend the population, with military action if necessary.
One of the co-chairs of the review, former Clinton administration official Anthony Lake, said if the UN could not act fast enough, NATO may need to get involved.
War broke out in Darfur in February 2003 when the rebels began fighting what they say is the political and economic marginalisation of the region’s black African tribes by the Arab-led regime in Khartoum.
Successive rounds of talks between the Khartoum government and two rebel groups have been undermined by regular ceasefire violations, and the UN has warned Darfur is falling into chaos, with murder, robbery and rape on the increase. Around 300,000 civilians have already perished in the conflict.
The AU has deployed a small peacekeeping force to monitor a shaky ceasefire, but a series of peace conferences over the past year has made little progress towards a settlement.
Rebel leaders from Darfur on Friday rejected an African Union draft agreement on power-sharing between their forces and the government in Khartoum, pushing a seventh session of peace talks close to stalemate.
(AFP/ST)