France backs Egyptian efforts for Darfur peacekeepers
Nov 12, 2006 (CAIRO) — France will boost its funding to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur and support Egyptian efforts to break a diplomacy deadlock on how to bring peace to the troubled region of western Sudan, the French foreign minister said Sunday.
The comments by Philippe Douste-Blazy came as international observers reported a new killing by pro-government militias in Darfur.
At least a dozen people were killed by janjaweed militias near the West Darfur town of Sirba on Saturday, international observers in Darfur said.
At the start of his two-day visit to Sudan, Douste-Blazy said France would support an Egyptian suggestion to send extra troops from Arab and Muslim countries to bolster the AU peacekeepers now in Darfur.
This option, known as the “third way,” could break a three-month stalemate between Khartoum and the United Nations. The U.N. Security Council voted in August to send over 20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur to replace the ill-equipped and underfunded AU force, but Sudan has outright rejected this.
“The priority is to protect the civilians and any proposal to that effect will be supported by us, including a mixed force,” Douste-Blazy told reporters after the meeting with Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo earlier Sunday.
Douste-Blazy said discussions with Sudanese authorities had focused on humanitarian and security in Darfur, and France boosted its funding to the AU mission by €1 million (US$1.28 million) to a total of €3 million (US$3.85 million).
A Norwegian aid agency said it was pulling out of Darfur last week because it was impossible to work in the troubled Sudanese region, where more than a dozen aid workers have been killed during the past few months of spiraling violence.
“Increasing humanitarian assistance to the affected persons would no doubt help protect the civilians in Darfur,” said Douste-Blazy.
Later Sunday, the French minister arrived in Khartoum and met with the Sudanese president who told him that Sudan respects the sovereignty of its two neighbors, Chad and the Central African Republic, said senior foreign ministry official Samani al-Wasila in a statement. Both countries have accused Khartoum of supporting rebels in their countries.
Douste-Blazy declined to speak to reporters after meeting with President Omar al-Bashir. He also planned to visit Darfur on Monday before returning to France.
Douste-Blazy’s visit came amid fresh reports of violence in the remote western Sudan region, where 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million chased from their homes in three years of violence.
The AU is investigating accusations that pro-government janjaweed militias on Saturday raided a refugee camp and neighboring villages near the West Darfur town of Sirba, said Hassan Gibril, the deputy head of the AU mission.
“Our investigators are heading there to confirm the reports,” Gibril told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Darfur. He said he could not immediately confirm casualty figures.
A U.N. official in Darfur said the janjaweed militias had looted several villages and a refugee camp in the past few days.
“The janjaweed seem to have killed at least a dozen people,” the official said on the telephone. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Last month, Sudan’s government expelled the chief U.N. envoy Jan Pronk after he commented about Darfur’s violence on his personal Web site.
A coalition of Darfur rebel groups known as the National Redemption Front said that some 300 janjaweed on camels and horses raided Sirba backed by the Sudanese army. The rebels said in a statement that 32 people had been killed and 18 injured in the raid.
Their report could not be independently verified, and Sudanese government officials were not immediately available to comment on the accusations.
The government has always denied backing the janjaweed. But U.N. investigators have found that the government armed the militia, and members of the paramilitary group have acknowledged receiving state support.
The U.N. blamed janjaweed militias for killing 50 people, including 27 children, in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur in late October. A Sudanese government investigation has blamed “renegade Arab tribesmen” for the killing.
(AP)