Arab League to send observers to Sudan’s Darfur region
KHARTOUM, Aug 10, 2004 (Xinhua) — The Arab League will dispatch staff to join the observer group of the African Union (AU) in Sudan’s west region of Darfur as monitors of a cease-fire agreement between the government and rebels, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail announced on Tuesday.
Ismail told a press conference that the decision was made at the Sunday meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo. The bloc will also send a number of military personnel to protect the AU observers as well.
Egypt, Libya and Algeria have been ready to send observers and servicemen to the strife-ravaged Darfur.
Ismail also said Sudanese officials will discuss with UN representatives this weekend ways to implement the just-concluded Sudan-UN action plan.
The two sides planned to assess the implementation of the action plan and work out a report to the UN Security Council at the second meeting expected at the end of this month, the diplomat said.
But Khartoum has rejected the AU’s suggestion of turning the forces protecting observers into peacekeepers.
Only Sudanese government troops can be responsible for maintaining peace and stability and shielding civilians, Ismail stressed.
Under the Sudan-UN action plan, the government forces will be redeployed in Darfur rather than withdraw from the region.
The AU must gain the approval of the Sudanese authorities before expanding the observer and protection forces, Ismail said.
Rebel groups in Darfur took up arms against the government in February last year, claiming that their region was neglected by the government.
In July, with the support of the AU, peace talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army ended without progress in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
The United Nations considers Darfur as a place with the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world, which has left up to 10, 000 people dead and some 1 million displaced.
On July 30, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution, giving Sudan 30 days to disarm the militias, known as the Janjaweed, which was blamed for atrocities in Darfur, or face international sanctions.