UN takeover in Darfur has hidden motive – Sudan president
Feb 26, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — The U.N. plan to deploy its peacekeepers in Darfur would put Sudan under the trusteeship of the world body, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Monday.
Speaking in Ethiopia, Bashir reiterated his rejection of the Security Council resolution, which calls for the deployment of some 22,500 U.N. peacekeepers and police to take over the African Union mission in Darfur.
“Resolution 1706 of the U.N. Security Council actually confirmed our suspicion because the content of the resolution places Sudan under international trusteeship of the United Nations,” Bashir said at a press conference in Addis Ababa.
“That plan to transform the peacekeeping job in Darfur from African Union (AU) to United Nations held a hidden agenda aimed at putting Sudan under the United Nations trusteeship.”
Experts say an estimated 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in Darfur since rebels took up arms against the government in 2003 charging neglect.
On Friday Bashir defended his handling of the Darfur crisis and criticised Western media for exaggerating the death toll and put the blame on rebel groups that did not sign on to a peace agreement concluded in Abuja, Nigeria in May 2006.
He said the AU force deployed in Darfur had been doing an “excellent job” until the Abuja agreement was signed.
“Immediately after the signing of the agreement, talks shifted into transforming the responsibilities of the AU force to an international peacekeeping force,” he said in Addis Ababa where he attended a heads of state meeting on Somalia.
“Our position was to maintain AU force to keep security in Darfur and to be supported logistically and financially by the U.N.,” he added.
Bashir’s comments came one day before the International Criminal Court was due to release a name of people suspected of war crimes in Darfur.
Analysts say part of Sudan’s reluctance to allow U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur is a fear the U.N. troops could be used to arrest those eventually charged with war crimes.
(Reuters)