AU diplomats pleased with Arab funds for Darfur mission, but
Mar 29, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — African Union diplomats and officials said Wednesday they were pleased with an Arab League contribution to help fund the cash-strapped AU mission in Sudan’s troubled western Darfur region but noted it was only a stop-gap measure.
Said Djinnit, commissioner of the pan-African body’s Peace and Security Council that runs the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), declined to comment on the 150-million-dollar (125-million-euro) pledge until he had seen details, but others said it was a welcome move.
“Any help for AMIS is welcome, the AU appealed to the international community on this and if the call is heard, the AU is pleased,” one AU official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An AU diplomat, who also requested anonymity, shared that view but noted that the money was not a long-term solution to the funding woes of the mission that costs nearly 20 million dollars a month.
The amount of 150 million dollars “is not going to change the future of AMIS, it is not enough to finance the mission,” the diplomat said.
Arab leaders meeting in Khartoum on Wednesday agreed to the aid package to be disbursed over the next six months after host Sudan urged them to reject plans for the dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to Darfur to replace the AMIS force.
They called on Arab countries to “provide financial and logistic support” to the AU mission but also said the deployment of any other troops in the region required Sudan’s “pre-approval”.
The AU is almost entirely dependent on foreign donations to pay for the 7,800-strong AMIS force and earlier this month agreed in principle to hand over the Darfur mission to the United Nations.
Sudan, however, has objected to such a move, arguing the transfer would worsen the situation in Darfur.
Khartoum’s soldiers, militia backed by government troops and rebels are embroiled in the Darfur conflict which since its outbreak in 2003 has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced two million more.
AMIS, which was deployed in 2004, has been hampered by poor funding and inadequate resources, and has been unable to contain the escalating bloodshed in Darfur, a region in western Sudan that is the size of France.
(ST/AFP)