Sudan playing “cat and mouse” diplomacy – Rice

July 11, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday accused Sudan’s government of playing a “cat and mouse” game in the planned deployment of a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force for the troubled Darfur region.

After drawn-out talks, Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir agreed last month to the deployment of the hybrid force to replace an ill-equipped, 7,000-strong African Union (AU) contingent that has been unable to stem the civil war raging in the vast desert.

But Rice, speaking at a joint Washington forum of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the African Union (AU), raised the prospect of Beshir reneging on his promise.

“The planned AU/UN peacekeeping force is essential to increasing security for the people of Darfur so that they can begin returning to their homes,” Rice told the conference on democracy attended by senior government officials, academics, and civil society representatives.

“We must not let the government of Sudan continue this game of cat and mouse diplomacy; making promises, then going back on them,” she said.

Rice stressed that democratic nations “must remain resolved to end the suffering and end the violence in Darfur.

“Too many have died, too many women have been raped, and too many children have been torn away from their families,” she said. “It is our responsibility, as principled nations, as principled democracies, to hold Sudan accountable.”

The United Nations is currently drafting a resolution to fund the estimated 15,000 personnel for the hybrid force — 10,000 troops and 5,000 support personnel — to be provided by its member states to supplement a 3,000-strong UN contingent that is to serve as the backbone of the force in Darfur.

These new forces will provide logistical support to the AU force currently in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which then enlisted the Janjaweed militia to help crush the rebellion.

According to UN estimates, at least 200,000 people have died from the combined effect of war and famine and two million were forced to flee their homes. Other sources give a much higher death toll, but Khartoum disputes the figures.

(AFP)