U.N. envoy says progress in talks with Khartoum
KHARTOUM/NAIROBI, Aug 13, 2004 (dpa) — The U.N. special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk said Friday progress had been made in talks with the Sudanese government on the implementation of a Plan of Action for Darfur.
Pronk told reporters in Khartoum that the U.N. and the Sudanese government had agreed, during a meeting late Thursday, on the establishment of 20 kilometre wide safe areas around the camps for displaced people in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Pronk said the final decision would be taken by the government this weekend, with the implementation of the plan starting next week.
He called it a step forward, but acknowledged the feared Janjaweed militias are still active in Darfur.
This weekend, half of the African Union (A.U.) protection force is due to deploy in Darfur. The first 150 troops will leave Rwanda Saturday to be in Darfur Sunday, the A.U. has said.
The other half of the force, from Nigeria, is expected a week later.
The A.U. force will however have no mandate to protect civilians or attempt to disarm the Janjaweed. Its only job is to protect the 120 A.U. ceasefire observers on the ground.
An initiative by the A.U. to increase the force to 2,000 troops and strengthen its mandate to make it a fully fledged peacekeeping force has been strongly rejected by the Sudanese government.
On July 30, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution demanding the Sudanese government disarm the Janjaweed and improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur, or face possible sanctions. The U.N. has so far ruled out military intervention.
According to U.N. estimates, up to 50,000 people have died as a result of the 18-month conflict in Darfur, from violence, starvation and disease. At least 1.2 million people have been forced to flee from their homes, while two million people are in acute need of food and medical attention.
Although Sudanese government representatives have said the situation for civilians in Darfur is improving, several aid and human rights organizations have published reports recently that talk of a deterioration of the conditions in the region.