Sudan agrees to implement accords on Darfur conflict, U.N. says
NEW YORK, Aug 05, 2004 (dpa) — The Sudanese government on Thursday signed an agreement with the United Nations to implement a set of commitments aimed at easing the conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region, a spokeswoman said in New York.
The agreement supplements a set of commitments reached between Sudan and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in Khartoum on July 3. The Sudanese government cabinet has to accept the agreement, which was signed with U.N. special envoy Jan Pronk in Khartoum, before it can be implemented.
U.N. spokeswoman Denise Cook said in New York that Pronk believed that if the text is implemented, he hoped the Security Council would “come to the conclusion that indeed there was no need to consider ‘further action'” against Khartoum.
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution last week that gave Khartoum until the end of August to show progress in implementing the commitments made with Annan.
The council also warned of “further action” if no progress is made. The sanctions threat could be carried out if there is no progress noted in a report to be submitted by Annan after the first 30 days and monthly thereafter.
The commitments called on Khartoum to give relief workers free access to Darfur, disarm the militias, investigate violations of human rights and deploy Sudanese police to Darfur.
The agreement signed on Thursday in Khartoum gave more details on ways to implement the commitments, Cook said. The text of the agreement was being studied in Khartoum and was not yet made public.
“The clock is ticking on the 30 days so there are presumably a number of steps that have to be taken during that period and they are set out in details in the agreement,” she said.
Fighting in Darfur between Khartoum-backed Arab militias and two African rebel groups has unleashed a massive crisis in the western Sudanese region. The U.N. said more than 1 million people have been displaced because of the fighting.
The United States has said at least 30,000 Sudanese have been killed in the conflict and another 50,000 have died of starvation and malnutrition since the conflict began in February 2003.
The resolution also imposed an arms embargo on the Arab militias known as Janjaweed, which have been accused of atrocities against civilians.
In Khartoum, a Sudanese official said authorities will begin disarming the Janjaweed next week.
“The disarmament will be carried out both on a voluntary basis and through searches carried out by the police,” Brigadier Jamal Al Huwaris, police commissioner in northern Darfur, told the Sudanese Media Center, a pro-government news agency.
The African Union (A.U.) was preparing also to increase the number of troops it is sending to Darfur from 300 to almost 2,000.
The troops will protect the 120 ceasefire monitors in Darfur, but the A.U. is also discussing transforming the deployment into a full- fledged peacekeeping mission, with a mandate to “disarm and neutralize” the Janjaweed.