Lack of copters could doom Darfur force – UN chief
December 6, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to the Security Council on Thursday to arrange for a planned Darfur peacekeeping force to receive helicopters, whose absence he said would wreck the mission.
He said the force was needed to entice Darfur rebel groups into peace talks with Sudan’s government. “But for this we need on-the-ground capability — specifically helicopters. We’re not getting them. Because of that the entire mission is at risk.”
On Jan. 1, the joint U.N.-African Union force is due to take over from an existing AU force of just 7,000, which has been unable to stop a conflict that has raged for 4-1/2 years.
Diplomats say countries that could contribute the 18 transport and six attack helicopters the United Nations wants have been reluctant to do so either because they have none to spare or because they are unhappy about the new force’s command and control arrangements.
In his letter to the Security Council, Ban expressed “grave concern” about the force’s lack of assets and said that “while helicopters alone cannot ensure the success of the mission, their absence may well doom it to failure.”
“I hope that council members will be able to exercise their influence so as to transform international concern for the situation in Darfur into the tangible provision of the 24 helicopters that could make such a critical difference to the people of Darfur.”
The U.N. chief told reporters he had personally contacted “every possible contributor”, including on trips to South America and Europe and at last week’s Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland — but to no avail.
“We are at the critical moment for Darfur. Time is running out. Troops begin deploying in January. Member states have spoken clearly about what must be done. It is time for them to walk their talk,” he said.
CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR REJECTED
Security Council diplomats say one country that did offer helicopters was Jordan, but that U.N. planners said they were of an unsuitable type. One diplomat said he understood Sudan had rejected a Chinese offer of helicopters. There was no immediate comment from Sudanese or Chinese officials.
Ban told a questioner he believed the Sudanese government had put no restrictions on the origin of the helicopters. “I don’t think this will be any problem,” he said. “If any country will be willing to provide, they will be welcome.”
U.N. officials say that without the helicopters the peacekeepers will be unable to move about effectively in Darfur’s arid terrain — an area the size of France — or to defend themselves if they come under attack.
Ban told the Security Council the world body had considered getting the transport helicopters from a civilian contractor but had concluded such a supplier would be unable to cope with the dangerous situation in Darfur.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno said last week that, aside from the helicopter problem, the deployment of the force was also jeopardized by a series of obstacles raised by the Khartoum government.
These ranged from its failure to agree to some non-African units to delays in providing land, reluctance to authorize night flights and demand for the capacity to disable the force’s communications network for security reasons.
Ban said he was sending two senior officials as part of a delegation to an AU-European Union summit in Lisbon at the weekend to discuss these issues with the Sudanese delegation.
They are deputy peacekeeping chief Edmond Mulet and the deputy head of Ban’s office, Kim Won-soo.
(Reuters)