UK’s Benn says Darfur needs more troops

Oct 16, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — More troops are needed to stem the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, where struggling African Union forces are failing to protect millions of endangered civilians, a British minister said on Monday.

Minister for International Development Hilary Benn, on a one-day visit to Sudan, did not manage to convince President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to accept a U.N. Security Council resolution to deploy 22,500 U.N. forces in Darfur and so avoid a confrontation with the international community.

“(Bashir) does recognize that there’s a need for more troops on the ground,” Benn told Reuters late on Monday night.

The Sudanese president had acknowledged that transition to a United Nations force would deal with the AU force’s funding problem “although he remains opposed to the transfer to a U.N. mission,” Benn said in an interview.

Khartoum says the U.N. force is an attempt at recolonization by Western powers. Critics say they fear U.N. troops would arrest officials likely to be indicted by the International Criminal Court investigating alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Despite Bashir’s objections, the international community insists a U.N. takeover of the AU mission is the only way to stem the violence.

Benn said the AU could not adequately patrol Darfur, a remote western region the size of France, because it could not find enough soldiers and did not have the money to fund them.

“The African Union for about a year and a half has been trying to find one extra battalion,” he said.

The AU is still not at the full strength dictated by its mandate of more than 7,000 troops and police.

Britain, the United States, Canada and the European Union are the main donors funding the AU mission. Benn added it was impossible to continue that level of funding indefinitely.

“Despite our best efforts and … significant contribution … there isn’t funding through voluntary contribution in order to raise a force of the size … required to provide security,” he said.

He said the U.N. Security Council would soon have to look at other options if Bashir continued to refuse a U.N. mission, but said African and other leaders were trying to persuade Bashir that a U.N. mission was the way forward.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said Khartoum was pushing the option of an ‘AU plus’ force which would include U.N. logistical, technical and financial support.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect. Khartoum armed mostly Arab militia to quell the Darfur revolt.

Washington says the militia are carrying out a genocidal campaign of rape, murder and looting, a charge Khartoum denies.

Since a peace deal signed in May between one of three negotiating rebel factions, violence has increased in Darfur with a dozen aid workers killed.

Benn said the deal needed to be clarified through discussions with those who did not sign it.

But he acknowledged it would be difficult to convince the government to agree to any additions or changes to the text of the accord.

“The reason we have insecurity in Darfur at the moment is because not everybody’s signed up and that’s absolutely clear,” he added.

The government has said it is open to dialogue with the non-signatories.

(Reuters)