Sudan’s Malakal fighting shows need for UN Darfur force – US
Nov 30, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The United States is concerned about fighting between former southern Sudanese rebels and government soldiers but is pleased that U.N. peacekeepers have put down the violence, the State Department said Thursday.
The performance of the U.N. force illustrated again the importance of expanding with troops from the United Nations the undermanned, lightly armed African Union force in the western Sudan region of Darfur, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
Hundreds of thousands have died in Darfur over the last four years in attacks by government-armed militiamen and harsh conditions of camps for the displaced.
“Certainly we’re very concerned about reports of fighting,” Casey said.
“What is positive is that the United Nations mission in Sudan, or UNMIS, forces have stepped in to quell the violence. They’ve deployed armored personnel carriers and a number of other forces, and this is having a quieting effect on the situation.”
More than two dozen people were killed in fighting this week at Malakal, soldiers and members of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. The rebel SPLA fought a 20-year civil war before joining in a cease-fire that guarantees political and economic autonomy and possibly eventual independence for southern Sudan.
Casey indicated the fighting was unlikely to have broader implications.
“Our understanding at this point is that this was an isolated incident related to a number of localized issues and is being successfully dealt with, as I said, by UNMIS on the ground,” he said.
He said, however, that Malakal illustrates “why we believe it’s imperative to see an expanded force in Darfur. The actions that UNMIS is taking to be able to ensure preservation of the cease-fire (in southern Sudan) is something that is to be welcomed and I think is welcomed by the Sudanese government as well as by those in southern Sudan.”
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has characterized any U.N. force in Darfur as neocolonization of Sudan by the West. He says the United Nations should merely pay for and rearm the 7,000-strong African Union force.
U.N. experts estimate an effective force should have at least 20,000 peacekeepers, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced tentative agreement on such a force after negotiations Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, early this month.
“Obviously, one of the things for us that’s a priority is to continue to work with the broader international community to ensure that efforts are made to convince the Sudanese government to accept the Addis Ababa agreement,” Casey said Thursday.
(AP)