Sudan UN envoy says military campaign in Darfur “will continue”
March 11, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) — A senior Sudanese official said that military operations will continue in Darfur “as long as rebels continue to threaten civilians”.
Mohamad also condemned statements by the US envoy in which he criticized the “foot dragging” by Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.
“This is not a decent way of addressing heads of states” he said.
The assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Edmond Mulet addressed the UN Security Council on the progress of the deployment of the joint African Union-United Nations force as well as political negotiations.
“With the Government intent on military action and the rebels either fighting or fragmenting, it is difficult to see an opening for political negotiations” Mule said.
The Sudanese diplomat said that this portion of Mule’s report was “disappointing”.
“This is not a reality, it is an exaggeration if not a lie. If there any blame it should be pointed towards the mediators Mr. Salem and Mr. Eliasson who are now stagnated as well as stalemated” Mohamad said.
The UN peacekeeping official disclosed for the first time that Sudan has agreed to the deployment of troops from Thailand and Nepal in the coming months.
But Mohamad said that his government will only accept non-African troops after all other options from Africa has been exhausted.
“When we come to a point when no African troops are possible then we will look into other options. That is position of the government” he said.
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.
The Sudanese envoy said his government will accept choppers from non-African countries including Russia.
Earlier this month the former US special envoy to Sudan accused certain countries of intentionally slowing down the deployment of a peacekeeping force.
“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.
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)