African Union protection force to start deploying in Darfur
ADDIS ABABA , Aug 13 (AFP) — The first half of a 300-strong African Union (AU) protection force was to be airlifted into Sudan’s devastated western Darfur region, to help observe a ceasefire between the government and rebel groups.
The deployment comes as African mediators are struggling to negotiate an end to the armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where fighting since early 2003 has already claimed between 30,000 and 50,000 lives according to the United Nations.
In Berlin, a senior government official urged Sudan to live up to its promises to disarm the Janjaweed Arab militias held principally responsible for the exactions against the civilian population in Darfur, and arrest the militia leaders.
Kerstin Mueller, secretary of state in the foreign ministry said she was deeply disturbed by reports that the Sudanese air force had attacked civilians.
Although Sudan is under threat of possible sanctions by the United Nations, “there is still no clear signal on the part of the Sudanese government to show that is taking matters seriously,” Muller said.
At African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, an official told AFP that the AU and the Rwandan government, with the support of the Netherlands, were ready to deploy troops to El-Fashir (capital of North Darfur state), directly from Kigali.
“Everything is going as planned,” the official said.
A spokesman for the Rwandan army, Patrick Karegeya, said there would be an official ceremony for the troops’ departure from Kigali.
The pan-African force, consisting of 150 Rwandan and 150 Nigerian soldiers, is tasked only with protecting an AU team of observers monitoring the April 8 ceasefire between the Khartoum government and Darfur rebels, which both sides have accused each other of violating.
The Rwandan troops are to be airlifted by the Netherlands to the war-torn region on Saturday, to be followed by the Nigerian soldiers no later than August 25.
Karegeya said the Rwandan troops included a number of Arabic-speaking officers.
The Sudanese government has welcomed the small peacekeeping force. But it voiced opposition this week to plans by the 53-member AU to expand the contingent into a 2000-strong peacekeeping force.
The AU’s current chair, Nigeria, warned Sudan on Thursday that unless it allowed AU peacekeepers and diplomats to resolve the conflict it would face pressure from outside the continent.
Sudanese State Foreign Minister Naguib al-Khair Abdel Wahab responded on Friday by saying the only decisions the AU had taken on Darfur confined the pan-African body’s role to monitoring and verifying respect of April 8 ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by the government in neighbouring Chad.
“We believe that the task of keeping peace and protecting civilians is exclusively a Sudanese responsibility,” he added.
The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from the ethnic black African minority rose up against the Arab government. That sparked a crackdown by Khartoum and its Arab militia allies, the Janjaweed, who are accused by locals and human rights groups of widespread atrocities against civilians in Darfur.
The crisis has forced some 1.2 million people from their homes. The UN Security Council last month called on Sudan to disarm the Janjaweed within 30 days or face economic sanctions.
Recent reports from the UN and rights groups have accused the Sudanese government of incorporating Janjaweed militiamen into the police instead of disarming them. The reports also accused the Khartoum regime of failing to protect civilians, instead arresting those who spoke to foreign officials or journalists.
But efforts to find a negotiated end to the crisis in Darfur appeared to be treading water on Friday, with rebels threatened to stay away from talks scheduled to take place in Nigeria on August 23.
Amid growing confusion over who was taking the lead in the mediation efforts, a Chadian diplomat said on Thursday that the Sudanese government and the rebels had begun informal peace talks in the Libyan town of Sirte.