No decision made on sending NATO advisers to Darfur – US
April 10, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The United States said no decision had been made on sending hundreds of NATO advisers to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, despite a report that Washington was pushing for the move.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would not confirm a Washington Post report that the US administration backed dispatching a NATO team to Darfur, including Americans, to advise African Union forces.
“NATO is now considering a variety of different options for how it might assist with headquarters’ support and other kinds of support,” McCormack told reporters.
But he added, “To my knowledge, there haven’t been any final decisions on what kind of assistance NATO might be able to offer the AU mission.”
McCormack said he expected the question of expanded NATO help for Darfur to be raised at the alliance’s ministerial meeting this month in Bulgaria. But he was unable to say if a major proposal would be presented.
NATO is providing air transport to a 7,000-strong AU contingent in Darfur, where three years of fighting between rebels and Khartoum-backed miltias has left up to 300,000 people dead and two million displaced.
The United States has been pressing to step up the role of the 26-member trans-Atlantic alliance while supporting moves to replace the beleaguered AU troops with a larger UN force.
US President George W. Bush told NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer last month that he hoped the alliance would “take the lead” in Darfur but did not elaborate.
The Post said the US proposal to send NATO advisers to Darfur was not sure to win approval within the alliance because of fears it could drain attention from Afghanistan.
More aggressive measures, such as dispatching ground troops or providing air patrols to protect peacekeepers and prevent the bombing of villages, have been ruled out as unnecessary for the moment, the paper said.
The United States has put a lot of diplomatic effort into trying to end the conflict in Sudan’s western region, which it calls “genocide”.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has visited Darfur and her deputy Robert Zoellick has made four trips. Washington spent its February presidency of the UN Security Council in a failed bid to pass a resolution on a UN force.
But McCormack betrayed only slight impatience with delays in beefing up peacekeeping operations in Darfur.
“We all wish that this were done already. We wish that this all could have moved along more quickly,” he said, adding, “we are diligent in working the required diplomacy to move the process forward.”
US officials have expressed frustration in the delay by the United Nations in providing a needs assessment report for an eventual deployment in Darfur. McCormack said it should be finished by the end of the month.
The AU has agreed in principle to an expanded UN force for Darfur but has been slow to act on it, while Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir has staunchly opposed any move to deploy foreign troops.
(ST/AFP)