Final details of AU Darfur force almost complete
April 9, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — A deal to bolster an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur neared agreement on Monday, but an issue of using helicopter gunships appears to be a final sticking point for Sudan, diplomats said.
AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said the Sudanese will consult over the problematic issue, which he declined to give details of, although a U.N. diplomat said Khartoum objects to the deployment of attack helicopters.
Sudan was given no deadline for its final answer, diplomats at the meeting at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa said. Khartoum has already rebuffed international demands to allow the deployment of a larger U.N. force, arguing that world body support for the under-funded and ill-equipped AU force of 7,000 troops will be enough to stabilise the region.
Experts estimate that 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million fled their homes in Darfur since a conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the central government. Khartoum says only 9,000 have died.
Western nations say Sudan agreed at the AU in November to a three-phase peacekeeping plan, which would end with a hybrid U.N.-AU force of 22,000 troops. But Khartoum said it only agreed to the first two parts, and not even to all of the details of those.
The second phase, known as the heavy support package, was envisioned to provide funding and about 3,000 U.N. military logistical personnel to back the AU. The AU would remain in charge and have the only active peacekeepers on patrol.
Djinnit said he hoped Sudan would give its answer before AU Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare flies to New York to meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 16-17.
Konare, after talks with al-Bashir on Saturday, said there had been clear agreement in Addis Ababa on a hybrid force consisting of African troops under AU command with logistical, financial and administrative assistance from the United Nations.
He said the size of the African force had yet to be determined.
U.S. officials have threatened further sanctions against Khartoum’s delays, but appeared to have eased back after Ban said he wanted more time to persuade Bashir to accept the hybrid force.
The AU last week said it must have help policing Darfur, where violence has persisted despite a 2006 peace agreement between the government and one rebel faction. Unidentified gunmen killed five AU troops earlier this month.
(Reuters)