Sudan suggests watchdog role for the UN force in Darfur
May 24, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese government today said it would not permit the deployment of International force in Darfur under Chapter seven; instead Sudan proposes that UN force to have a watchdog role of the Darfur accord implementation.
“The government does not accept the deployment of foreign forces under (UN Security Council) Chapter Seven,” many Sudanese officials repeated Wednesday in Khartoum.
A UN Security Council resolution passed under Chapter Seven on 16 May urged speedy implementation of a peace accord reached in Nigeria early this month between Khartoum and the main Darfur rebel group.
Under Chapter Seven, the Council has broader power to decide what measures are to be taken in situations involving “threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression”. In such situations, the Council is not limited to recommendations but may take action, including the use of armed force “to maintain or restore international peace and security”.
Theses statements came after talks with UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and deputy undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations Hedi Annabi, who flew into Khartoum on Tuesday to arrange access for the team.
The Security Council also called for the deployment of a joint African Union-UN technical assessment team within one week to lay the groundwork for a handover of the current AU peacekeeping mission to the United Nations.
Sudanese president advisor Gazi Salah Eddine Atabani said Sudan rejects the deployment of UN force under Chapter Seven and if “we decided to receive UN’s Annan envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, it is just we want to determine with him the role of this force”.
Attabani further added that Sudan want the UN force to have a “monitoring role” for the implementation of peace accord in Darfur to reinforce it.
The head of the Sudanese government delegation at Abuja talks, Majzoub al-Khalifa said he had told Brahimi of the sincerity of those who signed the May 5 peace deal “for achieving the aspirations of the people of Darfur for peace.”
Al-Khalifa suggested the planning mission for a force of around double the current 7,000-strong AU mission was unnecessary as an earlier AU technical mission “studied the situation in Darfur and there is sufficient information on what is now going on there.”
In the same trend, the Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol, who held a meeting with Annan envoy today, told Brahimi that “Darfur Peace Agreement does not include in its security arrangements any role for the United Nations or any other party except the African Union”.
UN chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday called Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir to urge him to let the UN military planners in, telling him he “hoped to see the UN assessment mission dispatched as soon as possible.”
Khartoum has blown hot and cold over whether it will accept a UN deployment in Darfur, initially flatly refusing such a move but more recently suggesting it is willing to be flexible on the issue.
Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister who has been dispatched to several hotspots in recent years, is due to meet Beshir himself on Thursday to put his case for the UN technical mission to be allowed in.
Three years of war in Darfur between rebels and Khartoum’s forces backed by proxy Arab militias have claimed some 300,000 lives and displaced 2.4 million people.