Sudan criticizes plans for EU-U.N. force in Chad and CAR

August 29, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government expressed reservations in regard to a proposed plan by the UN and EU to deploy troops in eastern Chad and the northeastern Central African Republic (CAR).

The Sudanese minister for International Cooperation, Al-Tigani Fadeel, told the government sponsored Sudanese Media Center (SMC) that the tripartite security mechanism agreed between Sudan, Chad and CAR dismissed the need for the EU-UN force.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday gave the European Union and the U.N. the green light Monday to prepare for a military and police deployment to help protect civilians in Chad and the Central African Republic caught in the spillover of the Darfur conflict.

Fadeel hinted that approval of such a force might have a negative impact on the UN-AU hybrid force to be deployed in Darfur.

“The UNSC should have waited until they observe the outcome of the UN-AU hybrid force in Darfur” Fadeel added.

Analysts say that Khartoum is worried that such a force on its border might be used by Western powers for operations inside Darfur such as arresting war crime suspects.

The Sudanese official accused Europeans of having a hidden agenda.

“What the UNSC did was premature and is driven by Europe’s insistence on having a presence in the region” Fadeel said.

Last month Sudan has agreed after extended stalling to the deployment of a 26,000-member U.N.-African Union force to Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died since ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government in 2003, accusing it of discrimination.

(ST)