UNAMID commander calls for international pressure on Darfur rebels

August 3, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) – The commander of the joint UN and African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Darfur (UNAMID) urged the international community to press the Darfur rebel groups to attend peace talks.

The Nigerian General Martin Luther Agwai of UNAMID told reporters at the UN headquarters that the world needs to put as much pressure on the rebels as it has on the Sudanese government.

“I want to say it again and again that it takes two to tango…..not put too much searchlight on one party; let’s also put enough searchlight on the other party” Agwai said.

“I am not in any way saying that the [Sudanese] government is clean. But what I am saying is that also the other side cannot be said to be saints. So my appeal is that the pressure, especially now that we have a joint mediator, should be exerted on both sides” he added.

Peace talks brokered by the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) between Sudan’s government and Darfur rebel groups in the Libyan city of Sirte last October failed after main movements boycotted them including Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Khalil Ibrahim and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur.

To reenergize the process the former Burkina Faso foreign minister Djibril Bassole was appointed as the new UN-AU mediator.

But Agwai said that many Darfur rebel groups had shown no interest in negotiations.

“They will have to end on the negotiation table because militarily it’s clear no side will win the war in Darfur” he said.

The Nigerian general also urged the international community to provide logistics to the force so it can perform its mission.

Agwai wrote an article titled “There is no peace to keep” in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram earlier this month expressing disappointment over lack of support to UNAMID by the international community.

“It is time for the international community to take up its responsibility towards UNAMID. The force is undermanned and lacks equipments…We don’t have any tactical helicopters that could have prevented the killings of our forces” he said.

Darfur peacekeepers were ambushed last month in an area called Umm Hagiba, about 60 miles from UNAMID’s camp in North Darfur. The attack left 7 peacekeepers dead and 22 wounded.

A lack of helicopters is one of the main problems facing the UN-AU mission in Sudan’s Darfur region. The UN has for months been seeking 6 attack and 18 transport helicopters to support the force but the countries asked for help have said they have none available.

Agwai also said Khartoum must ease the bureaucratic obstacles imposed and accept non-African troops as part of the force.

Despite the shortcomings Agwai told reporters at the UN that he is “optimistic” the mission will succeed.

“Sometimes things have to get bad before they get better. Maybe we have seen the worst in Darfur and we will begin to see the best out of the mission” he said.

International experts also say more than 300,000 were killed and 2 million have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Darfur, a region that is roughly the size of France.

(ST)