Former US special envoy says some countries deliberately slowing Darfur force

By Wasil Ali

March 02, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — The former US special envoy to Sudan accused certain countries of intentionally slowing down the deployment of a peacekeeping force in Darfur.

“There are some in the international system who don’t want to send forces before the peace negotiations because they have concerns for the safety of their troops” Andrew Natsios told Sudan Tribune by phone from Washington.

Natsios said the parties impeding the force deployment included countries and international organizations but declined to name them.

UN Security Council adopted resolution 1769 on July 31st which authorized a hybrid UN-AU force (UNAMID) consisting of 26,000 troops and police but so far it only has only 9,000 personnel.

The UN have accused Khartoum of placing impossible deployment conditions and said that they will make the force unable to operate efficiently. Also few nations have come forward to provide air support for the hybrid force.

But the former US envoy said the responsibility doesn’t lie entirely with Khartoum.

“Not all the obstacles are placed by Sudan. A lot of people are blaming the Sudanese government but sometimes there are others who should be blamed” he said.

Natsios said that the helicopters needed by the force must conform to UN standards including the ability to fly for long hours and that not so many countries have those.

He also acknowledged that Washington would have liked to see a stronger resolution on the Darfur peacekeeping force “but this is what came through the system”.

However the former diplomat warned about high expectations from the force to bring peace to the war ravaged region.

“One thing I told the leaders in the camps, rebels and tribal chiefs; if there is no peace settlement the UN peacekeeping force is not going to solve the problems. UN peacekeeping forces everywhere in the world do not have the capacity to fix political problems” Natsios said.

“If there is no political agreement then there is going to be a problem. That’s why the UN is not moving very rapidly. They are very worried in the UN that without a political settlement this force is going to be seen as unable to deal with Darfur problems” he added.

The deployment of the force has been a key demand by rebels to sit down for peace talks with the Sudanese government particularly Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) who had an uneasy relationship with the US envoy.

“The problem is that too many people in Darfur believe that the solution is the peacekeeping force. It is not the solution. The notion that we will have security before the settlement is complete nonsense” Natsios said.

“The purpose of peace negotiations is to get security. You don’t get security before the settlement. It doesn’t make any sense” he added.

Natsios criticized Al-Nur and accused him of “making a lot of statements to his people that are misleading and unfortunate”.

“He [Al-Nur] has never been to another war or a peacekeeping operation. I have been to them all over the world. The way you settle these things is through negotiations” he added.

Bush’s former special envoy also said that some Darfur rebel groups have been the cause of insecurity in many instances.

“We went through incidents in Darfur during a four month period. Every single one of them was initiated by the rebels and the government responded to it” Natsios said.

“They [rebel groups] are making the Sudanese government look good” he stressed.

Natsios also slammed threats made by Darfur rebel groups to Chinese peacekeepers saying it is contradictory to their claims of wanting security for their people.

DARFUR ADVOCACY GROUPS

Asked about the efforts made by the Darfur advocacy groups in the US and elsewhere Natsios praised their work.

“What I said before is that they have kept the issue alive on front page which is very good. We wouldn’t have made the same amount of progress without them” he said.

However Natsios said that these groups are sometimes misinformed about the facts on the ground in Darfur.

“The way they characterize the situation in Darfur isn’t always right about who is killing who and who is dying for example. They don’t do that deliberately but it’s because they have no one on the ground” he added.

RESIGNATION FROM US SPECIAL ENVOY POST

Natsios was appointed to the post by President George W. Bush in September 2006 and has devoted much of his time to trying to resolve the crisis in Darfur, where the Bush administration says genocide occurred, and to prevent a new civil war between the north and south of Sudan.

However last December, Natsios unexpectedly announced his resignation and US President Bush appointed Illinois Republican lawyer and former U.S. diplomat Richard Williamson to replace him.

Some reports mentioned that Natsios was fatigued by turf battles within the Bush administration on Sudan policy. It was also reported that he did not get along with Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer.

But the former envoy declined to comment on these reports saying it is an “outdated” matter.

“I told US Secretary of State Dr. Rice in June 2007 that I wanted to resign. I took the job on a part time basis but it ended up taking too much of my time” he said.

Natsios said that he thinks that the new envoy Williamson, a friend of his, “will do a good job” but emphasized that the Sudanese are ultimately the ones who will solve their problems.

“I think they are a few who think that the US will solve all of Sudan problem. We can only facilitate the process” he added.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed.

(ST)