UNSC extends mandate of experts to monitor Sudan’s Darfur

Dec 28, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — The UN Security Council (UNSC) has decided unanimously to extend until next March 29 the mandate of a panel of experts it appointed to assist in monitoring implementation of UN sanctions on the Darfur perpetrators, a UN official said Wednesday.

Radia Achouri, spokeswoman of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), told reporters that the UNSC also requested the four-member panel to report and make recommendations to it on the implementation of the measures imposed against those accused of impeding the peace process in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

She pointed out that the UNSC has also adopted a presidential statement welcoming the commencement of a 7th round of the African Union-led inter-Sudanese peace talks on Darfur, calling on all parties to the conflict to fulfill their commitments to conclude a just and full peace accord without further delay.

All parties in Darfur should refrain from violence and put an end to atrocities on the ground, especially those committed against civilians, including women and children, humanitarian workers, and international peacekeepers, said Achouri.

The UN organ stressed that those responsible for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur must be brought to justice without delay and the government of Sudan should disarm and control militia accused of atrocities in the war-torn region, she added.

According to the spokeswoman, while condemning recent attacks perpetrated by armed elements within Chad and an attack on Dec. 19 on positions of the Chadian national army in the town of Adri, the UNSC recalled its concern that the persisting violence in Darfur might further negatively affect the region.

The world body supports efforts to reduce tensions on the Sudanese-Chadian border, she stressed.

(Xinhua/ST)