Sudan, UN urge international support for Darfur force
December 8, 2007 (LISBON) – At a meeting held in the sideline of the EU-Africa summit, Sudan and the United Nations agreed on the need for a speedy deployment of the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). They also urged the international support of the mission.
In a news statement issued following the meeting on Saturday, the two delegations “recognized that UNAMID would play a critical role in bringing peace and stability to Darfur” and agreed on the importance of setting up the force.
Sudan rejects participation of troops from outside Africa. Exceptionally Khartoum accepts troops from China and Pakistan. But the UN insists that units from Thailand and Nepal are crucial for the operation. It also wants Sudan to show understanding to certain technical facilities for the success of the mission.
Participants in the meeting provided clarification “in some areas and identified a number of other areas where technical clarity was required to ensure that effective preparations for and deployment of the AU-UN Mission could continue.”
The UN and Khartoum agreed on the need of addressing and resolving these issues “transparently, expeditiously and in the appropriate forum, as part of their collaboration regarding deployment of UNAMID.”
Sudanese presidential advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail said yesterday in Khartoum that the Sudanese president would not meet the UN delegation in Lisbon. But He also invited Ban’s envoys to meet the
Sudanese officials in charge of the Darfur file at the EU-Africa summit or in Khartoum.
The statement didn’t disclose the names of the participants in the meeting.
The two parties urged the international community to provide the necessary capabilities, particularly the military aviation. The hybrid force lacks offers for crucial force units. It is short one heavy and one medium transport unit, three military utility aviation units and one light helicopter unit, while an earlier pledge for one reconnaissance company has been withdrawn.
Last week the UN Secretary General told the Security Council about the need for the 26,000-strong force to deploy by supplying the transport and attack helicopters that no country has yet provided. ” We’re not getting them. Because of that the entire mission is at risk.” He warned.
On Jan. 1, the UNAMID 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.
According to UN estimations, the conflict has left at least 200,000 people dead and more than 2.2 million others displaced since 2003.
(ST)