US suggests to start preparation for UN force takeover in Darfur
May 11, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The United States circulated a draft UN resolution that sets a May 30 deadline for deploying an assessment team to Sudan’s war-torn region to prepare a UN takeover of the African Union peacekeeping mission.
The new text, expected to be taken up by the 15-member Security Council during closed-door consultations Friday, seeks to build on the momentum created by the AU-brokered peace accord signed between Khartoum and the main Darfur rebel group in Abuja, Nigeria last week.
It calls on the parties to the Abuja accords to cooperate with the AU, the UN and member states “to accelerate transition to a United Nations operation, and …calls for the immediate deployment of a joint African Union and United Nations technical assessment mission no later than May 30.”
That assessment team would be tasked with working out with the AU and Sudanese authorities how to strengthen the capacity of the beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force in Darfur during the transition to the UN force which is not expected to be deployed before late this year.
The draft also calls on UN chief Kofi Annan to submit recommendations to the Security Council within seven days of the return of the assessemnet team on all key aspects of the future UN operation, “including force structure, additional force requirements, potential troop-contributing countries and a detailed financial evaluation of future costs.
The text, which US diplomats hope to put to a vote early next week, drops an explicit call in the earlier version to shift some troops from the 10,100-strong UN mission (UNMIS) currently deployed in south Sudan to Darfur.
It also urged those parties that have not yet signed the Abuja accord “to do so without delay and not act in any way that would impede implementation od the agreement.”
The deal reached in Ajuba last week was accepted by the Khartoum government and the main faction of of the larger of the two main rebel movements, the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM).
The smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) refused as did the smaller SLM faction headed by Abdelwahid Mohammed el-Nur.
Tuesday US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the Security Council to support the US draft.
She said it aimed to “strengthen and transform the AU force into the effective core of a more robust UN-led mission and would empower this new peacekeeping mission with the mandate and the capabilities to protect civilians”.
“The international community must do more to alleviate the suffering of the people in Darfur,” Rice also told a special ministerial session of the council.
The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes rose up against the central government in Khartoum, prompting a fierce crackdown by troops and a proxy militia called the Janjaweed.
(ST)