UN Darfur proposal could mean joint UN/AU operation

Nov 14, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The United Nations will propose a three-step program at a high-level meeting this week to strengthen African peacekeeping efforts in conflict-wracked Darfur, culminating in a joint African Union-U.N. operation, a senior U.N. official said.

The Sudanese government, which vehemently opposes the transfer of peacekeeping duties in Darfur from the African Union to the U.N., has given a green light for a beefed-up A.U. force. But whether Khartoum would approve the U.N.’s third step – “an A.U.-U.N. hybrid operation” with both organizations jointly appointing key decision-makers including the force commander – remains to be seen.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in an attempt to give new momentum to the stalled peace process in Darfur, is convening a meeting Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of senior officials from the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union, Sudan, the U.S., China, Russia, Egypt, France, and half a dozen African countries.

Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the meeting is being held “with a view to preparing a possible breakthrough regarding the provision of international assistance” to the 7,000-strong A.U. force ahead of a meeting on Nov. 24 of the A.U.’s Peace and Security Council.

Outlining the three-step proposal, Guehenno told a closed council meeting that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has endorsed the first step to strengthen the ill-equipped and overstretched A.U. force, which is currently under way. His briefing was obtained by the Associated Press.

The initial package will add 105 military officers, 33 U.N. police, 48 international staffers, 36 armored personnel carriers, night-vision goggles, and Global Positioning equipment to the A.U. force, according to a U.N. report.

Guehenno said talks are taking place with the AU and Sudan on a second, larger support package that would include the deployment of several hundred U.N. military, police and civilian personnel to the African Union mission “as well as substantial aviation and logistical assets.”

The third step would be the A.U.-U.N. hybrid operation, with the two organizations jointly appointing a special envoy to lead it and the military commanders, and “substantial U.N. involvement in its command and control structure,” he said. The U.N. could also provide additional logistics, engineering and operations units to increase its effectiveness, he added.

Guehenno said the estimated budget for the three-step approach was $150 million for the initial six-month period.

(AP)