Sudan rejects UN envoy call to change Darfur deal

July 3, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s foreign minister on Monday rejected calls by the top U.N. envoy in the country to make additions to a peace deal for Darfur after widespread rejection of the accord.

U.N. special envoy Jan Pronk wrote in his June 28 weblog that many things needed to added to the May 5 peace deal such as more transparency in disarming pro-government militias and international security guarantees, which were key demands of the rebels who refused to sign the deal.

But Foreign Minister Lam Akol dismissed Pronk’s statement.

“An addition is an amendment,” he told reporters in Khartoum, adding only the parties to the deal could agree any changes to the deal.

“We will never accept an amendment because Pronk says … we will amend the peace deal when the reality on the ground dictates (and) it does not,” he added.

Since the African Union-mediated peace deal, which only one of three negotiating rebel factions signed, tens of thousands of people have staged demonstrations, at times violently, saying it does not meet their basic demands.

Pronk called this a “new political fact” that required additions to the deal, which had hoped to end the more than three years of rape, murder and pillage that has killed tens of thousands and forced 2.5 million into wretched camps.

But Akol said Pronk was in no position to say that. Calling Pronk “junior”, he said: “Do I believe Pronk or do I believe (U.N. Secretary-General) Kofi Annan?” he said, adding Annan had not echoed his envoy’s words when he met him on Sunday.

Pronk’s comments came just ahead of the weekend AU summit in Gambia where Annan met President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Akol hoping to convince them of accepting a U.N. takeover of AU troops struggling to monitor a shaky Darfur truce.

Sudan rejects U.N. transition, despite support from the AU itself for a takeover which says it cannot sustain its cash- strapped mission. Government officials paint a picture of a Western invasion attracting Islamic militants and creating an Iraq-like quagmire.

Critics say Khartoum fears U.N. troops may be used to arrest officials likely to be indicted by the International Criminal Court investigating alleged war crimes in the region.

Pronk signed the Darfur accord as a witness and had said he was involved in the last-minute frenzy to convince the rebels to agree to the text. His weblog appears to be a retreat from his previous statements praising the deal.

Pronk’s weblog can be seen at www.janpronk.nl.

(Reuters)