Europe searches for funds for Darfur peacekeepers

Jan 19, 2007 (BRUSSELS) — The European Union will discuss next week ways to keep funding the African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s conflict-torn Darfur region, EU officials have said.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels Monday, are to commit to funding the contingent, known as AMIS, until a new force combining African Union and United Nations troops can be deployed, probably in about six months.

“The EU reaffirms its commitment to continuing support for AMIS in the transition period leading to the agreed hybrid force in Darfur,” said a draft of conclusions prepared for the ministers by EU ambassadors.

An EU diplomat said: “We will discuss the ways that we will, perhaps, continue to finance AMIS.” The money needed is believed to be in the low hundreds of millions of euros.

The conflict in Darfur, a desert region the size of France, between rebels and militias backed by Sudanese troops has resulted in the deaths of more than 300,000 people and displaced more than two million others since 2003.

African Union (AU) countries sent troops there in 2004 but the mission has struggled to contain the violence.

The EU is the main financial backer of the force and has provided it with around 242 million euros (313 million dollars) from a special fund aimed at supporting peace initiatives in Africa.

But its budget amounts to 300 million euros for the 2004-2008 period.

“It’s true that we lack the means at the moment,” an EU official said. “We have a big gap for 2007 at the (European) Commission.”

“We are hoping for a big financial effort,” he said.

In their draft conclusions, the ministers urge “other countries and organisations to provide additional financial and material support for AMIS.”

They will also confirm the extension of an EU civilian mission supporting the AU force “for a period of up to six months, from January 1, 2007.”

(AFP)