US says UN peacekeepers must be in Darfur by October 1
Aug 10, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. repeated on Thursday its demand that rebel groups in Darfur quit killing each other and said a strong and mobile U.N. peacekeeping force must be in the Sudanese region by Oct. 1 to make them stop.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack condemned the violence and said a peace deal reached in May holds the key to solving the 3-year-old problem.
McCormack said the U.S. condemns the violence that is killing civilians including humanitarian workers. He demanded that rebel groups abide by the peace accord and a cease-fire negotiated in N’Djamena, Chad’s capital, and cooperate with peacekeepers of the African Union.
He said, however, the peacekeepers have tried hard, but “the situation has evolved and become much more complex and difficult.”
“Consequently, a United Nations peacekeeping force must deploy without delay. Only a large, robust, mobile, and fast-reacting U.N. force is capable of stopping the violence and protecting innocent lives” and bringing general peace and security under the peace agreement.
“The African Union has consistently called for transition … to a U.N. operation without delay. Such a transition should take place by October 1.”
McCormack issued his statement 2 1/2 weeks after President George W. Bush played host in his Oval Office to Minni Minnawi, leader of the largest rebel faction and the only one to sign the agreement with the Sudanese government. Bush had asked for Minnawi’s support in putting the peacekeepers under the U.N. flag and demanded that Minnawi help stop what the U.S. characterizes as genocide in Darfur.
There is no sign that happened. At the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations, the organization’s top humanitarian official, Jan Egelund, said the situation was “going from real bad to catastrophic.” He said the peace deal will fall apart unless some order is restored in the vast desert region of western Sudan on its border with Chad.
During the last month, the deadliest for humanitarian workers since the conflict began in 2003, eight Sudanese were killed as they worked to bring water pumps and other facilities to Darfur’s displaced multitudes.
“The United States is firmly committed to peace in Sudan,” McCormack said. He said the peace agreement “provides the best opportunity for lasting security, peace, reconciliation and reconstruction in Darfur. It accommodates the reasonable political, economic and security goals of the people of Darfur.”
Under the agreement, Minnawi would head an autonomous government.
(AP/ST)