UN advisers to deploy in Darfur
Dec 27, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The first group of more than 175 United Nations advisers and staff supporting African Union peacekeepers in Darfur will deploy within days, the U.N. and AU said Wednesday.
A joint statement issued by U.N. and AU offices in Sudan said they had provided the Sudanese government Wednesday with a list of names of the 43 U.N. military staff officers and 24 police advisers making up the first U.N. group to be deployed to Darfur. That action opens the way for sending the personnel to the troubled area of western Sudan.
The Sudanese government confirmed it was permitting the first U.N. experts to head to Darfur. But the numbers it gave were lower than those mentioned by the U.N. statement. The discrepancy could not be immediately explained.
Sadeq Al-Magli, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said 18 military experts and 20 policemen would soon head to Al Fasher, capital of North Darfur.
The reinforcements are a compromise after the United Nations Security Council advocated replacing the 7,000 AU peacekeepers in Darfur with a larger, better-equipped and better-funded U.N. force — an idea Sudan has rejected.
The AU peacekeepers have been unable to quell nearly four years of fighting which has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million in the region.
The conflict began when rebels from African tribes took up arms against Sudan’s Arab-dominated government. The government is accused of unleashing Arab tribal militias known as the janjaweed who are blamed for the worst atrocities. The government denies backing the militias.
Most of the U.N. experts come from African and Asian countries, Al-Magli said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said in a recent letter to outgoing U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Sudan was ready to immediately implement agreements endorsing a three-step U.N. plan to strengthen the beleaguered AU force. The letter was circulated at the U.N. Tuesday.
According to the statement released Wednesday U.N. staff officers and police advisers will wear their national uniforms with blue U.N. berets and an African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) arm band.
The statement noted that in addition to the personnel, the U.N. is to provide a further $21 million of equipment to African Union peacekeepers. Computers and water tankers are included in the equipment.
(AP)