Annan decries lack of political will on Darfur

June 29, 2006 (LONDON) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has decried a lack of “political will” among world leaders to end the Darfur crisis, in an interview with BBC television to be aired later Thursday.

Speaking ahead of an African Union summit in Banjul to discuss Sudan’s refusal to accept a UN force in Darfur, Annan said it was “in the interest of Sudan to cooperate with the UN and the international community in Darfur”.

“We are not strangers,” the secretary general said, recalling that the United Nations has previously deployed troops in southern Sudan, scene of a separate long-running insurgency.

“They are used to cooperating with us, and I think we need to convince them and dissuade them of their suspicions.

Acknowledging “similarities” between Darfur and the Rwanda genocide in 1994, Annan said “everybody” is looking to see if world leaders will make good on their World Summit pledge last September to protect vulnerable communities.

“You need political will,” he said. “A certain political will is required for action – and I don’t think we have the kind of political will that is required to drive things home.”

Such will is lacking “to some extent amongst the powerful nations,” he said, adding: “I think the African leaders from north through south, east and west will have to work collectively with the Sudanese government to convince them that it is in their interest to cooperate with the international community”.

“Quite frankly, if the Sudanese government had been able to protect the population in Darfur … we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

(ST)