UN condemns killing of African peacekeepers in Darfur

Aug 21, 2006 (NAIROBI) — The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has condemned the killing of two African Union (AU) peacekeepers in the Darfur region, calling it a serious violation of international law.

A fuel convoy of the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) travelling from El Nahud to El Fasher in North Darfur State was ambushed in the Kuma area by an unidentified group of armed men on Saturday. Two Rwandan soldiers were killed in the attack, while three were wounded.

“UNMIS calls on all parties to the Darfur conflict to respect the neutral and impartial status of AMIS,” the UN mission said in a statement on Sunday. Any attack against AU personnel deployed in Darfur constituted a breach of existing ceasefire agreements and contravened the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, it added.

The AU called the attack “unprovoked” and “outrageous”. It said it would hold the leaders of those groups found responsible personally accountable.

The security situation in Darfur has worsened since the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) on 5 May, as fighting has escalated between signatories and non-signatories of the peace deal.

The DPA was signed by the Sudanese government and the largest of the three main rebel factions, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) of Minni Minnawi. Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nur, the leader of another faction of the SLM/A, and Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), refused to sign, however, claiming it did not fulfil their demands.

The attack against the AU occurred days after the Pan-African organisation had expelled non-signatory rebel representatives from the commissions overseeing the shaky ceasefire in the region, saying it could no longer guarantee their safety because the government called them terrorists after some of the groups had attacked Sudanese forces.

The JEM claimed that the decision effectively dismantled the existing ceasefire agreements and turned the AU “into an executive body for [Sudanese President Umar] al-Bashir’s junta”.

Last week, the AU called on the rebel movements to refrain from targeting its personnel and stressed that it remained a neutral body that was trying to help end the conflict and the suffering of the people of Darfur.

Meanwhile, commander Ahmed Abdulshafi Bassey confirmed that SLM/A field commanders had relieved al-Nur from his duties as chairman of his SLM/A faction and that he would replace al-Nur as the new leader of the movement.

Reiterating his group’s respect for previous ceasefire obligations, Bassey announced that he would convene an all-SLM/A conference in Darfur within 45 days, to fill the “organisational vacuum” of the rebel faction.

The three-year Darfur conflict began when rebels rose against the central government, complaining that the vast region remained underdeveloped due to neglect. The government is charged with arming local Arab militias called the Janjawid to embark on a campaign of rape, looting and murder, aimed at crushing the rebellion.

Darfur’s civilian population has borne much of the brunt of the violence, as non-combatants have been forced to flee their villages for the relative safety of teeming displaced people’s camps. According to the UN’s latest report on Darfur, more than 200,000 people are believed to have died, with millions more displaced by the fighting.

(IRIN)