Sudan’s president not seen acting on UN Darfur plan – EU

Feb 13, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has shown little interest in delivering on seven-week old promises to allow a hybrid U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force to deploy in Darfur, a top European Commission official said Tuesday.

“We don’t see any positive moves by Bashir,” said Louis Michel, E.U. commissioner for development and humanitarian aid.

Michel, who is here for an international conference on Liberia, said the international community should exert pressure on al-Bashir.

“The time to deliver is now,” Michel told reporters at European Commission headquarters.

Al-Bashir made the commitment to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in late December days before Annan left office.

Under the U.N. plan, some 22,000 U.N.-A.U. forces would be deployed to Darfur in stages. Michel said al-Bashir is leaving the impression that he has already made enough concessions to international negotiators.

On the situation in Somalia, he expressed optimism about a permanent settlement so long as a power sharing agreement among the parties is reached.

“Today we are in the best position to resolve the situation sustainably,” he said.

(AP)