AU raises sanction against holdout rebels, urges Sudan to accept UN force
May 15, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The African Union gave two holdout Darfur rebel groups a 24-hour deadline to sign a peace deal with Sudanese government or face UN sanctions. Also it urged Sudan to accept a UN force in the troubled western region.
AU commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said the pan-African body would ask the UN Security Council to slap sanctions on the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) unless they signed the deal by Tuesday, when it is set to be implemented.
“I call on them to hasten to append their signatures, without any conditions, to the document, before its implementation on 16 May 2006,” he told a meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council.
“Should they embark on any action or measure likely to undermine the (agreement), especially ceasefire provisions, the Peace and Security Council should take appropriate measures against them, including by requesting the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against them,” Konare said.
The two groups have thus far refused entreaties to sign the agreement that was sealed on May 5 in the Nigerian capital of Abuja between Khartoum and the main faction of the SLM.
The Abuja accord provides for a more equitable distribution of power and wealth, the disarming of the pro-government Janjaweed militias and a referendum on the future of Darfur, but the holdouts say it does not go far enough.
There was no immediate reaction from the two groups.
In his report to the Peace and Security Council, Konare also called on the Sudanese government to drop its objections to allowing UN peacekeepers to replace the current African Union mission in Sudan, known as AMIS.
“This is particularly pertinent given that the current mandate of AMIS will expire four-and-a-half months from now and the minimum lead-time the UN requires for an effective transition is six months,” he said.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said Khartoum was ready to enter into talks with the world body about the scope and mandate of such a mission but was not ready to welcome it.
“Sudan has rejected the transfer of the AU mission in Darfur to the United Nations,” he told the meeting. “At the same time, Sudan has reaffirmed its willingness to enter into dialogue with the UN.
“We still are sticking with this position and look forward to the time when these discussions with the UN will take place,” Akol said.
While awaiting Sudan’s decision on the UN mission, Konare called on the African Union to boost the mandate and manpower of AMIS, which currently numbers some 7,000, in order to monitor the implementation of the Abuja peace deal.
“I strongly recommend an increase in the strength of AMIS in line with the need for a robust enhancement in terms of additional troops, logisitics and overall capacity,” he said. “The tasks ahead are indeed daunting.”
Three years of war in the province between rebels and Khartoum backed by their proxy militias have claimed an estimated 300,000 lives and displaced around 2.4 million people.
(ST)