Darfur governor warns against deploying UN forces

June 15, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The governor of Sudan’s West Darfur state warned Thursday against deploying “international” troops in the war-ravaged region, saying the African Union peacekeeping force already there should do the job.

Jaafar Abdel Hakim Ishaq, quoted by the official SUNA news agency, also said a “disaster would befall Darfur if international forces entered the region without the consent of the Sudanese government.”

Ishaq, speaking in the state capital of Geneina with a visiting delegation from the United Nations and the African Union, did not elaborate on what the disaster might be.

The team of high-ranking officials has been in Sudan since last week to study the possibility of a handover of AU peacekeeping responsibilities to the UN.

UN officials have made it clear they want to replace the embattled AU forces with better-equipped troops mandated by the world body.

But Ishaq warned against “the grave consequences of international forces entering the state” and called for “reliance on the African forces mission and supporting it so as to fully discharge its responsibilities.”

Sudan consistently opposed a handover of peacekeeping duties in Darfur, but has shown readiness to discuss the issue since reaching a peace agreement with the main rebel group last month.

Since the war broke out in the vast western region more than three years ago, the combined effect of fighting and a dire humanitarian crisis has left up to 300,000 people dead and more than two million displaced.

(ST)