Mbeki urges rapid deployment of hybrid force in Darfur

Novemeber 6, 2007 (CAPE TOWN) — South African President Thabo Mbeki called Tuesday for a rapid deployment of the long-awaited AU-UN hybrid force in Darfur after meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.

“The AU-UN hybrid force should be deployed without further delay,” Mbeki said at a state banquet held for the Sudanese leader in Cape Town.

He continued, “all outstanding issues in this regard should be solved as a matter of urgency on the basis of existing United Nations decisions and by agreement between the AU, the UN and the government of Sudan.

“All necessary steps should be taken to ensure the security of the civilian population and the internally displaced people in Darfur, as well as create the conditions for humanitarian assistance to reach the sections of the population in need.”

Mbeki’s call came after a three hour meeting with Beshir during which the Sudanese leader is believed to have asked South Africa to add to its 600 troops in the troubled western region when a beefed up peacekeeping mission begins operations.

Mbeki also said he was “very pleased” that an agreement had been reached to bridge recent political upheaval in Khartoum sparked by Sudan People’s Liberation Movement pulling its ministers out of the national unity government.

SPLM acted in protest against the slow implementation of a peace deal that ended decades of civil war between the military in the north and rebels in the south of the country.

He called on international community to act firmly against elements that disrupts the peace process in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan.

“The international community should take firm action against anybody who wilfully absent themselves from these negotiations, choosing to engage in violent actions against the innocent people of Darfur,” he added.

Sudan has reluctantly agreed to the deployment of a much larger hybrid United Nations-African Union force to Darfur to replace a purely AU force which has struggled to keep the peace between rebels and a pro-government militia.

The government in Khartoum is much keener to see African troops on its soil rather than UN blue helmets and a greater presence of South African soldiers would allay some of its concerns.

Beshir’s top advisor, Mustafa Osman Ismail, said earlier they were looking at increasing the 7,000 African troops to up to 26,000.

(AFP)