Russia criticises “hasty” UN resolution on Darfur

Sept 4, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Russia criticised on Monday a U.N. resolution that called for more than 20,000 U.N. troops to take over from African Union (AU) peacekeepers struggling to end the violence that has ravaged Sudan’s western Darfur region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S and British-backed resolution was drawn up without proper consultations with the Khartoum government, which has argued that the U.N. mandate’s goal was “regime change”.

Lavrov said the decision to hand over the AU mission to the United Nations “should have been done in accordance with the basic rule of the U.N. which envisages that such a decision should be … agreed upon with the government of Sudan.”

“Unfortunately this resolution was taken in haste without continued consultation with the government of Sudan, while we and China at the Security Council had hoped for continued consultations. But this was not done,” Lavrov said while visiting AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on Monday.

Russia, along with China and Qatar, abstained from voting at the U.N. Security Council on the resolution to create a U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur last Thursday.

The resolution was passed nevertheless.

Since the signing of a fragile peace pact in May between Khartoum and two rebel groups, fighting has increased in Darfur.

The Sudanese military has said it wants to move 10,000 troops to the restive area to counter rebels who have refused to sign, raising fears of war and thousands more deaths.

(Reuters)