UN troops are equipped to restore peace in Darfur – SLM-Minawi
June 21, 2006 (THE HAGUE) — U.N. troops are the best equipped to restore and maintain peace in Darfur, a rebel representative said Wednesday at the start of a two-day conference on rebuilding the shattered Sudanese region.
“As far as security is concerned, I think they are the most capable forces,” Mohamed al-Tigani Eltayeb, of the Sudan Liberation Movement, told The Associated Press.
“U.N. forces are already in Sudan everywhere,” he added, during a break in talks on reconstruction efforts in Darfur being hosted by the Dutch government in The Hague. “What is the reason for not having them in Darfur?”
His comments underscored marked differences that still exist between both sides, which are attempting to implement a peace plan signed May 5 in Abuja, Nigeria.
On Tuesday, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir reasserted that he will never allow U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur, and said he would lead the “resistance” against any foreign force.
The U.N. wants to send a beefed-up peacekeeping force to replace 7,000 African Union troops that have largely been unable to halt fighting in Darfur, where nearly 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced since rebel groups made up of ethnic Africans rose up against the Arab-led Khartoum government in early 2003.
The government is accused of responding by unleashing Arab militias known as the janjaweed who have been accused of some of the worst atrocities _ but it denies any involvement.
Despite that denial, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Agnes van Ardenne called on Khartoum to help end the violence.
“Of course the government of unity is responsible for the disarming of the janjaweed and the militias,” she said.
Van Ardenne also called on global leaders to bolster support for the African Union peacekeeping force known as AMIS.
“It is clear to all of us that AMIS needs strengthening if it is to meet that enormous challenge for the restAof thisAyear, and if it is to form the core of an even larger U.N. Force after that,” she said. “Until a U.N.-mission takes over, the international community will have to continue and even step up its support for AMIS.”
The Sudan Liberation Movement and the government are taking part in the conference along with representatives from international groups including the World Bank, African Development Bank and United Nations.
Sudanese Finance Secretary Lhual Deng said both sides need to work toward cementing the peace.
“Our people in Darfur are expecting a lot and we don’t need to disappoint them,” he said. “We on the government side … are determined to see to it that we do not disappoint them.”
Van Ardenne agreed, saying people forced to flee the fighting deserve peace and stability.
“These women and children have suffered too much and too long,” she said.
(ST/AP)