Sudan rejects plan for UN peacekeepers in Darfur
Nov 30, 2006 (ABUJA, Nigeria) — Sudan’s president rejected a proposal Thursday to send thousands of U.N. troops to Darfur to boost 7,000 African peacekeepers there, crushing hopes for a quick solution to a crisis that is spreading across central Africa.
African leaders, however, extended the mandate of the AU force currently deployed in Darfur by six months, the African Union’s peace and security commissioner Said Djinnit told reporters. The mission’s mandate was set to expire Dec. 31.
“We want an African force,” Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir told reporters after leaving a closed-door African Union summit in Abuja at which African leaders were advocating a proposal for an expanded mission that would include blue-helmeted U.N. soldiers.
“We can take technical advisory and financial support from the U.N., but no U.N. force,” al-Bashir said.
Sudan, the United Nations and the AU agreed in principle earlier this month to create a hybrid mission, raising hopes that a stronger U.N.-backed force could be deployed to help stem the violence. But confusion has remained, with some Sudanese officials saying they want U.N. support — but only in the form of finance and logistics, rather than U.N. troops on the ground.
Djinnit said no agreement had been reached on expanding the peacekeeping mission, saying “the size and strength of the force should be based on the assessments of the African Union. It is the needs on the ground that will guide the size.”
Al-Bashir had repeatedly rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution from August under which 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers would replace the over-stretched, under-equipped African Union force. But he recently indicated a willingness to consider ways the U.N. could help.
Djinnit said African leaders had also agreed that “the mission should be essentially African troops, but there might be support elements from the United Nations.”
With bloodshed in Darfur continuing, Sudan has been under increased pressure to find a way to end the crisis.
Thursday’s talks, organized by the African Union Peace and Security Council, were chaired by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and attended by half a dozen other African heads of state, including South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki.
Sudan’s foreign affairs minister, Lam Akol, said the Sudanese delegation gave a presentation at the meeting outlining what kind of support they expected for African troops.
“What we discussed is the support the U.N. can give to the African Union force in Darfur,” Akol told The Associated Press. “The type of support we need is technical, logistic and advisory support. The technical unit might include some soldiers, but we don’t want United Nations troops carrying arms.”
After the presentation, Al-Bashir left along with his delegation and returned to a hotel in Abuja, but the meeting continued.
AU Darfur mediator Sam Ibok said earlier that African leaders would discuss the proposal for a hybrid force of between 17,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Sudan has portrayed a U.N. force as a throwback to the colonial era and has harshly rejected foreign involvement, particularly from Western nations. A combined operation would be a compromise, but there are still questions as to how the AU and UN would share roles and responsibilities.
Three years of fighting between government and rebel forces in Darfur have caused the deaths of more than 200,000 people and forced some 2.5 million from their homes. The volatility has contributed to instability in neighboring Chad and Central African Republic, two countries facing their own rebellions.
(AP)