AU chief urges Sudan to facilitate Darfur force
December 24, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s government should facilitate the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force to Darfur and rebels should rejoin the peace process, Africa’s top diplomat said on Monday.
Alpha Oumar Konare, head of the African Union Commission, was visiting his 7,000 Darfur peacekeepers, who have struggled with shortages of equipment and funds to protect even themselves.
The shortcomings of the AU force have angered Darfuris, who have begged for international protection for almost five years.
On his last trip to the region before the AU is due to hand over to a 26,000-strong joint U.N.-AU mission, Konare presided over a memorial service for almost 40 African soldiers killed in Darfur over the past 3-1/2 years.
“We have deployed huge resources to support the people of Darfur (and) we will never abandon them,” he said after a minute’s silence for the lost soldiers.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million been driven from their homes since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur in 2003, accusing central government in Khartoum of neglect.
Konare urged the government to allow the deployment of the hybrid AU-UN mission, which Khartoum reluctantly agreed to after months of threats and negotiations.
But the government has refused some essential non-African components of the force and wants to impose restrictions on the mission, including disabling its communications during security operations.
“This mission … is in the interests of all of Darfur, Sudan and Africa,” Konare told his troops. “The government should facilitate the deployment of the troops, rebels should rejoin the peace process and all parties should observe and respect the ceasefire.”
His comments indicated a more united front between the United Nations and the African Union since Konare’s last visit, when he agreed with Khartoum’s position that there was no need for non-African troops in the joint mission.
Konare defended the AU mission, whose critics say that even though it lacked equipment it failed to interpret its mandate robustly enough.
“I just wondered what would have happened if the AU had not deployed in Darfur,” he said, adding that the mission “was able to live up to what Africa demanded from us in very difficult circumstances”.
(Reuters)