As AU debates UN takeover in Darfur, Sudan FM calls to maintain African force

Mar 10, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Sudan’s foreign minister called on the African Union not to surrender its peacekeeping operations in Sudan’s Darfur region to the U.N., saying Friday that Africans should solve their own problems.

“The transition of the mission to the United Nations will represent a serious setback for the AU,” Lam Akol told African foreign ministers gathered at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia to discuss the proposed hand-over.

“Sending any foreign and non-African forces to Darfur would encourage the rebel movements to adopt more intransigent positions in the Abuja peace talks,” he added.

Other Sudanese officials, who have been lobbying African governments hard, have argued the violence would only escalate if U.N. peacekeepers move in.

Wednesday, tens of thousands of Sudanese marched through Khartoum, protesting the proposed U.N. takeover.

But the chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Omare Konare, presented a report to the council recommending the transition to a U.N. peacekeeping force.

One reason given to support the hand-over has been the inability of the African Union to finance the peacekeeping operation. The 7,000-strong African Union force has faced severe funding and logistical problems, and its mandate expires at the end of March.

The meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council was expected to last most of the day.

The Security Council has recommended that the U.N. start planning to take over peacekeeping.

European Union, U.S. and African officials have been urging Sudan to allow a large U.N. peacekeeping force to replace the African Union mission.

Darfur’s conflict, described by the U.N. as the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis, has left more than 180,000 people dead and 2 million displaced, since the start of a 2003 revolt by rebels from Darfur’s ethnic African population.

The Arab-dominated Sudanese government is alleged to have responded to the revolt by unleashing Arab militias, who carried out sweeping atrocities against ethnic African villagers.

E.U. foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said Thursday in Brussels he remained hopeful the African Union would agree to transfer their mission to a U.N. force.

“It is for the leaders who are concerned to take this decision. We hope that the African Union will decide to move to a U.N. mission,” Solana said.

(ST/AP)