Annan appeals for aid to Sudan; AU suggests peacekeeping mission
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS, July 29, 2004 (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has made an urgent appeal to donor countries for aid to Sudan as the humanitarian effort faces a US$191 million shortfall, a spokeswoman said. An African Union body also suggested transforming its military observer mission in Darfur into a peacekeeping mission.
Meanwhile, Egypt said it would try to prevent adoption of an American-drafted U.N. resolution threatening sanctions on the Sudanese government if it doesn’t rein in Arab militias blamed for killing thousands in Darfur.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Sudan needs more time to fulfill its promises to disarm militias and restore order in Darfur, where up to 30,000 people, mostly black African farmers, have been killed.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, visiting Egypt Wednesday, said there wasn’t much time to spare.
“These people are in desperate need,” Powell said. “We should give the Sudanese government time to respond, but these people don’t have much time.”
U.S. officials are working with Security Council diplomats on a resolution that calls for sanctions should the Sudanese government fail to stop the violence in Darfur. American officials are hoping for a vote by Friday.
“There is a universal recognition that Darfur is a disaster, that the government of Sudan is culpable and that action on a very tight timeframe is essential,” U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said Wednesday after a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Sudan’s U.N. ambassador defended his country and promised to work with other African nations in efforts to stop the violence.
“We are going to work with the African Union, not because there is a set of sanctions, but because we believe that this is the right path,” Ambassador Elfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa said.
Annan was in Accra, Ghana, for a summit of African leaders at which violence in Darfur and Ivory Coast’s civil war were expected to be discussed.
He appealed to the donors to be more generous with assistance needed for both the situation in Darfur and for refugees from the region who have fled to camps in the neighboring country of Chad.
His office said that the U.N. chief has sent letters to the heads of government of key European, Asian and Gulf countries asking them to “urgently increase their financial support for relief efforts” in Darfur.
“The secretary-general has been appealing to governments worldwide to contribute or increase their financial support to this appeal,” U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
Okabe said the United Nations has only received US$158 million of the US$349 million in pledges to humanitarian agencies, “which means that US$191 million are still required to allow the U.N. and humanitarian partners to carry out its assistance program.”
The German government Wednesday approved plans to provide an extra US$24 million, adding to US$16.3 million already pledged to support humanitarian aid efforts in Sudan, government spokesman Thomas Steg said in Berlin.
The Dutch government also announced plans to give US$121.5 million toward reconstruction in Sudan once fighting in Darfur ends, Development Minister Agnes van Ardenne said.
The Netherlands, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, has already promised to send three helicopters, 120 trucks and US$33.4 million in humanitarian aid to Darfur.
After two rebel groups from Darfur’s African tribes took up arms for more land and resources in February 2003, pro-government Arab militia known as Janjaweed began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against people of African origin.
More than a million people have been driven from their homes, and an estimated 2.2 million are in urgent need of food or medical attention.
In May, the African Union mandated a 150-member military observer team to monitor a cease-fire between the Sudanese government and rebels.
So far only 80 of the observers have been deployed to Darfur, and for their security, African leaders agreed on July 5 to form a 300-member protection force to guard them. The protection force, whose mandate includes protecting civilians, has not yet been deployed.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council said Wednesday that it had asked the chairman of the union’s executive commission “to prepare and submit to it, for consideration, a comprehensive plan on how best to enhance the effectiveness of the AU mission on the ground, including the possibility of transforming the said mission into a full-fledged peacekeeping mission.”
It was not immediately clear how Sudan would react to an offer of peacekeepers. On Tuesday, the Sudanese government warned it would retaliate if foreign troops are dispatched to bring the Darfur situation under control.