Sudan FM: Agreement reached on AU force with UN assistence

Nov 17, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan on Friday denied that any agreement had been reached on the establishment of a joint commandof the United Nations and the African Union for a reinforced African peacekeeping force in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

“No agreement was reached during the meeting in Addis Ababa yesterday (Thursday) on the joint command for the African troops in Darfur…What we are discussing and what is agreed upon, is an African Union force assisted by the United Nations,” Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the official Omdurman Radio.

Following a meeting between UN and AU officials in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that Sudan had agreed “in principle” to a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur.

“The troops should be sourced from Africa as far as possible and the command and control structure would be provided by the UN, ” Annan said.

Lam Akol said that all the discussions in the Addis Ababa meeting concentrated on the African troops as well as a unit of technicians and experts to be sent by the UN to join these troops.

He said that the Addis Ababa meeting was held in preparation for a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council on Nov. 24, adding that differences on the command of the peacekeeping force, its size and how to deliver supports to it had not been ironed out.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Aug. 31 calling for the deployment of more than 20,000 international peacekeepers to replace the 7,800 AU forces in Darfur.

But the Sudanese government has rejected the mission transfer, saying it was a violation of Sudan’s sovereignty and an effort by the West to colonize the African oil producing country.

The AU Peace and Security Council agreed in September to extendthe mandate of its forces in Darfur to the end of this year with the helps to be provided by the UN and the international society.

(Xinhua)