Sudan says no concession on Darfur force
April 19, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government denied on Thursday that it had made any concession on the international peacekeeping force to be deployed in Darfur, reiterating that this force should be African and under the African command.
“The international force to be in Darfur will be an African force, commanded by the African Union and supported logistically and financially by the United Nations,” Sudanese Presidential Adviser Mostafa Osman Ismail told reporters.
“Sudan’s acceptance of the heavy support package from the UN for the AU force in Darfur does not mean a concession of the government on the issue,” the Sudanese official added.
Sudan informed the UN on Monday that it had agreed to let 3,000 UN personnel plus six helicopters into Darfur to support under-equipped AU forces trying to stabilize the region as part of a proposed AU-UN hybrid peacekeeping force.
Ismail said that the 3,000 UN personnel will be engineers responsible for the airports, equipments, water and residence as well as technicians of contacts, workers and policemen.
“They are not a separate force and will not conduct any military actions,” the Sudanese official noted.
He added that the six light helicopters to be sent by the UN to Darfur “will operate under the AU command to protect the African peacekeepers.”
He denied the media report that the Sudanese government approved the heavy support package due to international pressures, adding that every step was taken according to the agreements reached between the government, the UN and the AU in a tripartite meeting in Addis Ababa last November.
The heavy support package is the second phase of a three-phase plan put forward by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to enhance the peacekeeping mission in the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur, where a number of civilians have been killed since the rebellion erupted there in February, 2003.
According to the plan, a 20,000-strong UN-AU hybrid peacekeeping force will be deployed in Darfur in the third phase, but details have not been worked out by the parties concerned.
The Chinese government, which sent a special envoy to Sudan last week, called for consultations on the basis of equality on the implementation of the Annan plan, noting that sanctions or threats of military strikes will not be helpful for solving the problem.
(Xinhua)