Sudan, UN-AU mission to ink Darfur force status deal on Saturday
February 7, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan and the Darfur hybrid mission are to ink the legal framework related to the deployment of the peacekeeping force in the war torn region on next Saturday.
Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Deng Alor and the United Nations-African Union Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Rodolphe Adada will sign the SOFA on Saturday February 9, the Sudanese foreign affairs ministry announced today.
Ambassador Tayeb Ali Ahmed Director of Peace and Humanitarian Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Sudanese side completed negotiations with the United Nations and the African Union in connection with the Convention governing the status of hybrid forces after reviewing all aspects related to the movement of mission personnel, their entry and exit from the country, the concessions offered by State and the means of communication used by the mission.
The details of the deal remain unravelled particularly aspects related to the demand of four key non-African units to the force: a Thai infantry battalion, two Nepalese special forces contingents and a Scandinavian engineering unit.
However, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, also told reporters in Addis Ababa last week that “All the key issues have been resolved.” “On the composition of the force, we understand the position of the government is that [it will be] predominantly an African force, that is why we expedited the deployment of African units.
The UNAMID force took over on December 31 from the struggling, inexperienced African Union force of 7,000 troops and police who had failed to stem the violence in Darfur.
(ST)