Sudan says open for talks after Annan Darfur warning
Sept 9, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan said it remains open to talks with the international community after UN chief Kofi Annan warned its leaders could be held to account over the rejection of UN peacekeepers for Darfur.
“Sudan did not close the door on dialogue with the international community” concerning the situation in Darfur, the spokesman of the Sudanese foreign affairs ministry, Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim, said Saturday.
The Sudanese official described as unjustified comments by the UN secretary general in New York on Friday about a possible deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Darfur, the region hit by war and famine.
Warning that the situation in strife-torn Darfur was “serious, desperate,” Annan said the Sudanese leadership “may be held collectively and individually responsible for what happened to the population of Darfur”.
The people of Darfur have been suffering for more than three years due to a civil war and associated famine that has left up to 300,000 dead and more than two million homeless.
Sudan said Annan’s remarks were based on an assumption that Khartoum wanted to remove African Union peacekeepers, leaving a lack of security for Darfur’s people.
“Sudan did not ask the AU to withdraw its forces and even if the African organisation decides to leave Darfur, there will be no security vacuum because the Sudanese government has its own plan to ensure safety in the area,” said the foreign ministry’s Ibrahim.
On Monday, the Sudanese government said it would ask the AU forces to leave by the end of the month if it could no longer continue its mission.
The announcement was seen as a fresh act of defiance after the August 31 adoption of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a UN force of up to 20,000 troops and police to take over from the ill-equipped cash-strapped AU mission in Darfur.
On Saturday, Ibrahim revealed that Sudanese government officials were awaiting a delegation of African Union officials to discuss their mission.
The delegation would come to “Khartoum before the meeting of the foreign ministers envisaged in New York” on September 18, Ibrahim said.
At the meeting, African Union diplomatic chiefs are to make a final decision on whether to continue or abandon their Darfur mission at the end of the month, he added.
The United States had indicated on Wednesday that it expects the African Union to decide to maintain its force in Darfur.
“We’re in very close contact with the AU. They are going to have to make some crucial decisions about their force in Darfur,” US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that a major catastrophe was brewing in Darfur that could destabilise the whole region.
“If things don’t improve, we’re heading for a major catastrophe,” said Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in a statement underlining the impact of worsening violence in Darfur.
Guterres underlined the threat of a further massive displacement to add to some 2.2 million people who have already fled their homes, including 200,000 refugees in neighboring Chad.
(ST/AFP)