US’s Natsios to meet NATO, EU officials on Darfur
Dec 14, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The US presidential envoy to Sudan will meet senior NATO and EU officials in Brussels on Friday after failing to gain Khartoum’s backing for deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping force to the strife-torn region of Darfur, the State Department said.
The previously unscheduled visit to Brussels by Andrew Natsios comes after the US confirmed this week that it was considering imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur if Sudan persists in its rejection of the peacekeepers.
Natsios spent most of this week meeting Sudanese leaders in Khartoum and had been scheduled to fly to London Friday for talks with British officials.
But he will instead go to Brussels for talks with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Belgian officials, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Wednesday, Washington confirmed that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush had discussed taking tougher measures, including the no-fly zone, if Khartoum fails to halt a resurgence of violence against civilians in Darfur.
The government of President Omar al-Beshir has rejected a UN resolution demanding the deployment of some 20,000 UN peacekeepers to replace an under-funded and ineffective African Union (AU) force of 7,000 in Darfur.
In a compromise deal, Khartoum agreed in principle last month to a three-phase plan for deploying a hybrid force made up mostly of AU troops but beefed up by UN logistical support and commanders.
But Sudan has since balked at implementing the deal and McCormack said Natsios had only succeeded this week in convincing Beshir to allow visas to be issued to UN logistics experts.
The Sudanese leader would not agree to further steps towards deploying the hybrid force to Darfur, McCormack said.
According to the UN, more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million been displaced in Darfur since a revolt erupted by the region’s ethnic African population against the Arab-led government in Khartoum.
Most of the violence against civilians has been blamed on Arab militia armed and funded by the government.
The US warned this week that fighting has recently surged again, threatening a further humanitarian disaster.
NATO already provides logistical support to the AU mission in Darfur and could be expected to play a key role in any eventual military action there, including the no-fly zone.
McCormack however said he did not think the no-fly zone issue would be on the agenda when Natsios meets Thursday with NATO’s Scheffer.
A Sudanese government spokesman said Thursday that US and British threats to impose a no-fly zone over Darfur “will not succeed in pressuring the Sudanese government.”
(AFP)