Sudan should mull Muslim peacekeepers – Senegal’s president
Aug 6, 2006 (AL-FASHER) — Senegal’s president Sunday said Sudan should consider the use of troops from Muslim nations to quell fighting in its Darfur region – suggesting an alternative to the U.N. force Sudan has rejected.
Sudan has repeatedly said it won’t accept a U.N. peacekeeping force and that the African Union troops in the region are making progress in calming Darfur.
Violence has continued in the western region of Sudan despite a peace deal signed in May between the government and a large rebel group. Other groups refused to sign the deal.
The AU – which has about 1,560 troops policing the region – has said it doesn’t have the resources for a long-term peacekeeping mission.
Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade – who flew into the North Darfur capital of Al-Fasher for a one-day visit – asked Osman Yusouf Kibir, governor of the region, to consider a force made up of soldiers exclusively from Muslim nations.
“We are part of the Muslim world and I hope we can take soldiers from there,” Wade told Kibir. He suggested member nations of the Organization of The Islamic Conference could send troops. Wade didn’t say if these soldiers would be associated with the U.N., and it wasn’t clear whether the OIC had offered such a force.
Kibir called a Muslim peacekeeping force “a very good idea,” and reiterated Sudan’s opposition to a U.N. force.
“We categorically refuse the transformation of the AU mission into a U.N. mission,” Kibir said. “We will not permit colonialism to return to Darfur.”
Wade was also set to meet with heads of the African Union mission during his visit. Senegal has about 375 troops in Sudan as part of the AU force. The West African country had offered to send 583 soldiers, but the AU said it couldn’t fund the full group.
Kibir said the security situation in Darfur was improving and that imposing foreign forces without Sudan’s agreement would “complicate the situation and lead to more clashes.”
On Saturday, the rebel leader who signed the May peace deal postponed a visit to the capital of Khartoum and his movement accused the government of not taking the peace agreement seriously.
The conflict in Darfur began when certain non-Arab ethnic groups revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government in early 2003. Arab militiamen responded with a wave of attacks. Over 200,000 civilians have died, and more than 2 million have fled their homes.
U.N. Secretary-general Kofi Annan has suggested deploying between 15,300 and 18,600 U.N. troops to Sudan.
(AP/ST)