Talks on Darfur hybrid force open in Addis Ababa
June 11, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — The African Union, the United Nations and the Sudanese government opened talks here Monday on the deployment of a hybrid AU-UN force of up to 20,000 peacekeepers to Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur.
The talks were preceded by “informal consultations between the UN and the AU on Monday morning,” an African Union source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The talks are aimed at “paving the way for the speedy deployment of a hybrid AU-UN force,” the African Union said.
Earlier in Khartoum, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said he expected an agreement to be reached soon.
“I am happy to say that the three parties are currently discussing in Addis Ababa the details of a hybrid force and we hope to have an agreement in the coming hours,” Akol told reporters in Khartoum after talks with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.
The talks are being co-chaired by AU’s Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnite, UN head for peacekeeping operations in Africa Dimitri Titov and Mutrif Seddik, head of the Sudanese delegation.
The delegates ended the first day of talks on Monday afternoon and the negotiations were due to resume early Tuesday.
Khartoum has rejected attempts to send UN peacekeepers to Darfur, where a four-year conflict has killed at least 200,000 people and forced more than two million from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Khartoum contests the figures, saying 9,000 people have died.
There are currently around 7,000 AU peacekeepers in the region but they are being hindered by a severe lack of funding and equipment.
A senior African source close to the talks said the meeting would also “clarify the mandate of the hybrid force and try and forge a pact ahead of the rainy season,” which starts in a few weeks.
The source said “the deployment of 18,000 to 20,000 additional troops to Darfur” was envisaged.
But there were several contentious issues like the zones where the force would be deployed and the conditions of engagement.
“Our aim is among other things to secure an environment where normal economic activities can take place, where human rights are respected … and also to create conditions so that refugees can return.”
(AFP)