Sudan turns to Libya, Nigeria for help over war-torn Darfur
KHARTOUM, Aug 18 (AFP) — With time running out for Sudan to meet a UN deadline for assuring the safety of the civilian population in the war-torn province of Darfur, the Khartoum government is seeking help from quarters as far apart as Libya and Nigeria.
As the August 29 deadline looms, African Union-sponsored peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels are due to begin in the Nigerian capital Abuja next Monday and Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Beshir has asked Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to “intervene personally” in the escalating crisis.
Last week, Libya hosted informal talks in Sirte which brought together all sides involved in the crisis, but nothing seems to have emerged from the discussions.
Nigeria, as current chair of the African Union (AU), has warned Sudan that unless it allows AU peacekeepers and diplomats to resolve the conflict, it will face pressure from outside the continent.
But there is a fundamental difference of opinion between Sudan and the AU over the nature of the Union’s mission to Darfur.
The AU is under growing pressure to upgrade its Darfur mission but Khartoum has resisted the idea, although Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said his government might agree “if the African Union convinces us of the importance of a peacekeeping force.”
Until now, the troops have been deployed to supervise the ceasefire and Sudan steadfastly refuses to see them suddenly transformed into a peace-keeping force.
North Darfur State governor Osman Yussef Kibir reiterated Wednesday that the troops should occupy themselves with monitoring the ceasefire “without intervening in any way in the lives of the civilian population”.
The leading UN envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, was quoted in the Financial Times on Wednesday as saying the peacekeeping force was too small to carry out its mission in the vast, devastated region.
“What has been decided now on the basis of the action plan (for Darfur) in all these areas cannot be monitored effectively with the present African Union force,” Pronk said, calling for “thousands” of observers and supporting forces to be deployed in Darfur.
At present only 150 Rwandan soldiers are in Sudan but in what is seen by Egyptian analyst Hassan Abu Taleb as a way of forcing Beshir’s hand, Nigeria is asking parliament to endorse sending up to 1,500 troops instead of the 150 initially anticipated.
Against all that, the Sudanese authorities have submitted to the UN a list of 11 so-called safe areas, which represent a crucial test of Sudan’s intention to implement a UN Security Council resolution that gives Khartoum until the end of this month to calm the situation in Darfur or face international action.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday the Sudanese authorities lifted restrictions on international food aid for a refugee camp near Nayala, in South Darfur, which houses some 90,000 people. Access was denied to foreign aid workers for three days after a Sudanese rescue worker was murdered.
More than 1.2 million thrown off their land by Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militia since February 2003 are housed in camps in Sudan while an estimated 180,000 more have crossed into neighbouring Chad, according to the latest UN figures.
The UN refugee agency said Tuesday the influx into Chad appeared to have resumed, with nearly 500 people crossing the border recently, having been deprived of all their property by the Janjaweed and giving up hope of peace.
The government, which has 40,000 troops in Darfur, has also deployed 6,000 police to look after security in the province and it prepared to send up to 20,000 instead of the 12,000 initially announced at the start of August, Foreign Minister Ismael said.