UN envoy to travel to East Africa to discuss Darfur peace
April 7, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — A senior UN official is to travel to east Africa early next week to discuss prospects for a UN takeover of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN under-secretary general in charge of peacekeeping operations, told AFP Thursday that the official would first stop in Addis Ababa for talks with AU officials before holding contacts with Sudanese authorities and other regional leaders.
A diplomatic source said Guehenno’s deputy, Hedi Annabi, would make the trip.
“The priority at this time is to clear misunderstandings which Sudanese authorities and others may have had about the role of a UN force in Darfur,” Guehenno said.
“As all UN peacekeeping forces, the mission will be deployed with the consent of the host country,” he added.
Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir has repeatedly objected to a UN takeover of peacekeeping duties from the 7,000-strong, cash-strapped AU force in Darfur, although the pan-African body agreed to the move in principle.
Khartoum has failed to make good on promises to ensure peace in Darfur and blames rebels for increasing attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers.
The UN has indicated it could send peacekeepers by the end of the year or at the beginning of 2007 to take over from AU troops.
The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes rose up against the central government in Khartoum, prompting a heavy-handed crackdown by troops and proxy militia called Janjaweed.
The fighting has left up to an estimated 300,000 people dead and displaced more than two million, hundreds of thousands of them camped in Chad.
(ST/AFP)