Sudan army voices opposition to upgrading of African Union mission

KHARTOUM, Aug 16 (AFP) — The Sudanese army expressed opposition to the upgrading of an African Union protection mission newly arrived in the wartorn western region of Darfur into a full-blown peacekeeping force.

“The Nigerian and Rwandan forces of 300 troops, which are now arriving in Darfur states, were assigned only to maintain protection for the 80 AU observers deployed in the greater Darfur and N’djamena,” army spokesman, General Mohamed Saeed Suleiman, told the pro-government Sudanese Media Centre.

The general also opposed any move by the African bloc to broaden the scope of the observer mission.

“The mission of the monitoring team in the area is to watch the violations of ceasefire that may occur by each party against the other and then to report the cases to the AU commission,” he said.

Suleiman was referring to a tentative truce between the Khartoum government and ethnic minority rebels who launched an uprising early last year.

There has been mounting pressure on the African Union to upgrade its Darfur mission, which began deploying Saturday.

Khartoum has resisted the idea, although Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail left the door slightly ajar Saturday, saying his government might agree “if the African Union convinces us of the importance of a peacekeeping force.”

The bloc’s current chair, Nigeria, has warned Sudan that unless it allows AU peacekeepers and diplomats to resolve the conflict, it will face pressure from outside the continent.

The UN Security Council last month gave Sudan a stern warning to rein in state-sponsored Arab militias accused of committing atrocities in Darfur by August 29.

The United Nations estimates that up to 50,000 people have been killed since Sudan’s armed forces and the militias cracked down on non-Arab minorities supporting the rebels.

Well over a million more people have fled their homes, with up to 200,000 seeking refuge in neighbouring Chad.