Chad-Sudan strife could undermine Darfur force – UN

February 1, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The United Nations expressed concern that tension between Chad and Sudan could undermine the deployment of a peacekeeping force to war-torn Darfur, already plagued by a lack of troops and equipment.

“It is crucial that both Chad and Sudan exercise maximum restraint, refrain from cross-border incursions and military activity,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday as he attended an African Union summit in Ethiopia.

The continental body sent troops to the western Sudanese region of Darfur in 2004, its first major peacekeeping operation two years after the body’s inception.

But the ill-equipped and cash-strapped mission failed to curb violence pitting government troops and allied militias against a myriad of often rival rebel groups.

The rebel uprising, which erupted over claims of marginalisation by Khartoum and was fiercely repressed, has killed at least 200,000 people and displaced 10 ten times as many in five years, almost a quarter of million of them into Chad.

Fighting broke out less than 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Chad’s capital Ndjamena on Friday between President Idriss Deby Itno’s French-backed army and a rebel alliance the Chadian government says is supported by Khartoum.

Since Monday, when the European Union gave the green light for an EU force of 3,700 troops to deploy in Chad and the Central African Republic to protect refugees and displaced people, three rebel groups crossed southern Chad with a heavily armed convoy, reaching the outskirts of the city on Thursday.

“These developments are extremely dangerous and could lead to an escalation of the conflict. Peace in Sudan must be comprehensive,” Ban said.

In Sudan, the United Nations and African Union are deploying a “hybrid force”, UNAMID, with a joint commandment which be the world’s largest peacekeeping operation if and when its ranks swell to the targeted 26,000 troops.

But that force is still struggling to rope in sufficient troop pledges and violence along and the Chadian side of Darfur’s western border could further slow deployment, while the French general commanding EUFOR’s advance troops in Chad has also held back deployment.

“On the specific issue of Darfur, I think it is fair to recognise that there is a certain degree of concern on how the situation is, whether there is going to be a peace to keep,” said UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno.

Ban’s representative in Sudan, Jan Eliasson, shared Guehenno’s concern.

“There is a certain degree of overstretch worldwide when it comes to peacekeeping because peacekeeping remains a labour-intensive activity… There are to many demands for limited supply,” Guehenno said.

“We need to have a reduction of the tensions between Sudan and Chad. As long as we have these growing tensions, the efforts to achieve peace in Darfur will be severely limited,” he told reporters in Addis Ababa.

“Darfur and Chad cannot be divorced,” he added.

Tensions between Chad and Sudan have been running high for months.

Deby is from one of the tribes also in Darfur and is accused by Khartoum of supporting rebel groups there, while Ndjamena charges that Sudan hosts and supports rebels bent on toppling the Chadian regime.

“In order to prepare for the talks, you need a reduction of violence, right now we have the opposite,” Eliasson said.

A stabilisation of the security situation in Darfur is seen a key condition for successful peace talks between the Sudanese regime of President Omar al-Beshir and rebel factions.

(AFP)