TXET – AU chief statements on his rejection of non African troops in Darfur

August 13, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Below is the text of a transcript of statement to the press by the AU Commission Chairperson, Prof Alpha Omar Konare, following his meeting with President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan in Khartoum on Sunday, August 12, 2007:

This transcript is distributed by the African Union Mission in Sudan:

Prof Konare: Once more, I would like to thank the President for having found time to share with us. Of course, we seized the opportunity to present our condolences following the death of our brother, Khalifa, who played a key role in the peace process. We also seized the opportunity to thank the President for his trust, which has enabled us to appoint the leaders who will take charge of the Hybrid Operation, under the leadership of our brother, Minister Adada, whose total African commitment we are sure about. He has followed the entire process; he was at every meeting on Darfur. We thanked the President for his support; we are certain that his support will never fail us.

We also assessed the current situation. After a long process of negotiations, we finally got the United Nations resolution which will allow for the deployment of the Hybrid Operation. It is important to note that this resolution was passed by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. It is now up to us to see to it that the resolution is implemented correctly, and that African troops are quickly deployed, so that the Heavy Support Package is completed. And I am in a position to announce today, less than two weeks since the resolution was passed, that we have received enough pledges from African countries; thus, we would not need to resort to non-African troops. It is now just a matter of marshalling resources to ensure that the Hybrid Operation receives adequate and sustained funding.

We know that security is an important component but the deployment also needs to help the political dialogue, because that is key. And I can say that the Arusha talks were positive, and of course on the basis of the Abuja agreement, which is now a fact. I am convinced that our brothers, both the Movements and the Government, will help us get to the end of the process. I would like to emphasise this because I think that the contributions of our brothers of the Movements are essential. It does not make sense today that they do not come to the table. We hope that those who did not come will join us, with the full guarantees we are ready to give as the African Union, as well as the United Nations.

We would also like to underscore the responsibility of partner-host nations; it is good that they give us financial support but it is even better at the political level that they help us to get our brothers of the Movements to bring their contributions to the table.

Those are the issues we discussed, and all this will help us to prepare for the meeting in New York in September. That meeting will be the second round of the one held last November in Addis, where we were able to agree on the Hybrid Operation. May I emphasise that it will not be a continuation of the Paris Conference. The meeting we are talking about and at which we will participate, will take place under the leadership of the African Union and the United Nations. That is a matter of principle! We will not subcontract our leadership and we will not allow our leadership to be subordinated. All our partners agree on that. It is now a matter of putting our teams into place and maintaining our leadership.

We received assurances of support from the President, and we are pleased to note the improvement of relations between Sudan and its neighbours, especially Chad. That is a very important factor in all the initiatives we are undertaking.

That is it. If you have two or three questions… two questions.

Question: First, I would like to seek some clarifications regarding funding; what is the situation with funding? Next, with regard to the deployment, will African forces be deployed first, followed by hybrid forces?

Prof Konare: I am not sure what you mean by ‘hybrid forces’, we are talking about a Hybrid Operation, and the agreement on the Hybrid Operation is clear: the troops will be African, unless Africa is unable to provide them, then we will appeal to others, after consultations with the Government of Sudan. That is quite clear. Right now as I speak, we have received enough pledges for me to state that we will not need to appeal for non-African troops. We will appeal to all the African countries that have made pledges to honour them as soon as possible, but funding remains a problem.

However, the advantage of the resolution which was passed is that henceforth, it is the international community – the United Nations – that is responsible for funding. So, the ball is now in their court. We hope that there will not be delays; any eventual delays could be exploited and used against us.

Question: Will there be joint operations with Sudanese troops?

Prof Konare: That is not mentioned as such. But it is obvious that our officials will work closely with Sudanese authorities, including Sudanese forces, because we are in Sudan, which has a government, ands authorities, and we will work within that framework. That should be clear.

Thank you.

(ST)