Sudan accepts Phase II of UN plan

April 16, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said on Monday that Khartoum had fully accepted the second phase of a UN plan to bolster a peacekeeping operation in Darfur, including the deployment of helicopter gunships.

“Sudan has accepted the second phase of the agreement of UN support for the African force,” Akol told a news conference. He said “yes” when asked if this included the deployment of helicopter gunships — an issue over which Sudan had previously expressed reservations.

“The meeting in Addis Ababa was decisive, and its results constitute a breakthrough,” said Akol of talks between the UN, the African Union and Khartoum in the Ethiopian capital on April 9.

Sudan’s acceptance “opens the door to new phases”, he said, adding that the ball “is now in the UN’s camp”.

Akol said Khartoum has also agreed that the chain of command for the second phase conform to UN practices. “We are waiting for the UN to decide the financing of this phase so that we can ask African countries for their troop contributions,” he said.

A three-phase plan floated last year by former UN chief Kofi Annan is supposed to culminate in the deployment of UN peacekeepers to bolster the embattled African force in the war-torn western Sudanese region.

Khartoum has agreed to the first two phases, which mainly involve logistical and technical support from the UN, but had previously expressed reservations about the helicopter gunships.

Sudan has yet to give its green light to the more contentious final phase of UN peacekeepers on the ground in Darfur.

On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sought to reassure Sudan that the helicopters to be used by peacekeepers would be used as a deterrent and not for offensive purposes.

At least 200 000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than two million driven from their homes, according to the UN. Khartoum disputes those figures, but some sources say the death toll is much higher.

(AFP)