UN-AU high level meeting on Darfur convenes this week
September 19, 2007 (NEW YORK) — The United Nations and African Union (AU) leaders are expected to hold a high-level meeting on Darfur in New York tomorrow.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he will chair a high-level meeting on Darfur with the AU chairperson Alpha Konare at the UN Headquarters.
The meeting is expected to discuss primarily the preparations for the upcoming peace talks scheduled for 27 October in Libya and the deployment of the UN-AU hybrid operation (UNAMID).
Darfur has witnessed an escalation in fighting between the rebel groups and the government forces in the last few weeks. The UN Chief appealed to the Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir for a ceasefire commitment.
Some officials have suggested that the surge in violence could ruin the peace talks and reduce chances of a peace accord.
President George W. Bush’s special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios told Radio France International (RFI) in Brussels this week that “there needs to be a ceasefire in Darfur if we are going to have peace negotiations”.
Abdelwahid al-Nur, influential leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), has already rejected Tripoli talks saying that security has to be established on the ground for negotiations to succeed.
The meeting is also expected to tackle some thorny issues such as the generation of high-quality troops, mandate of the force and its command structure.
Diplomats at the UN speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters this week that the AU is objecting to a much needed non-African infantry soldiers as part of the hybrid force.
The AU has also been adamant about retaining control over the hybrid force. The AU bypassed the UN in the selection of a controversial Rwandan General Karenzi Karake, accused of war crimes by opposition groups, as the deputy commander of the Darfur force.
It is not clear whether the meeting will address the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against two Sudanese officials accused of war crimes in Darfur. The Un Security Council (UNSC) referred the Darfur crimes to the ICC in resolution 1593 under Chapter VII back in 2005.
However world diplomats have been reluctant to bring up the issue of arrest warrants with Khartoum in order to secure its cooperation with the deployment of the hybrid force.
The UN Chief said he discussed the issue of suspected Darfur war criminals during private talks with the Sudanese president in Khartoum last week. However he gave no details and alluded that the time is not right to press Sudan on the warrants.
Ahmed Harun, one of the key suspects, and the minister of state for humanitarian affairs was appointed the co-chair of a national committee investigating human rights abuses in Darfur causing outcry among human right groups.
Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes in 4-1/2 years of conflict.
(ST)