UN council mulls sending peacekeepers to Sudan
UNITED NATIONS, June 3, 2004 (Xinhua) — The United Nations Security Council is planning to create a peacekeeping mission to help Sudanese warring parties implement peace agreements aiming to end the country’s decades-old civil war.
The 15-nation council would likely adopt soon a draft resolution proposed by Britain on Wednesday, diplomats said.
The draft council resolution welcomes the signing of three agreements on May 26 in Naivasha, Kenya, between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army ( SPLM/A).
On the basis of the three agreements on power sharing and governing of three disputed areas in central Sudan, Sudan’s government and the rebel group will negotiate a comprehensive peace agreement and a ceasefire.
The draft welcomes UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s intention to establish an advance UN mission in Sudan to contribute to the negotiation process and prepare for the deployment of the planned UN force.
It requests Annan to submit to the council recommendations for the size, structure, and mandate of the advance mission, shortly after the Sudanese parties sign a final peace accord.
The measure also asks Annan to take the necessary preparatory steps, including pre-positioning critical logistical and personnel requirements to facilitate the rapid deployment of the UN peacekeeping force to monitor the parties’ compliance with the terms of the accord.
The text also welcomes the deployment of an African Union-led mission to Darfur, western Sudan, to help enforce a ceasefire between the government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement.
Sudan’s civil war, the longest-running in Africa, started in 1983 when the government tried to impose Islamic Sharia law on the animist and Christian south. A separate conflict erupted in Darfur in early 2003 when the Justice and Equality Movement and another group rose against the government, accusing it of neglecting the poor region and failing to protect the black from Arab militias.
The current humanitarian situation in Darfur has been described as one of the worst in the world by UN officials.