US willing to help fund AU force in Sudan’s Darfur: Powell
NEW YORK, Sept 24 (AFP) — The United States is willing to help fund and provide logistical support for an African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s troubled western Darfur region, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday.
Powell said that Washington and other potential donors had to know exactly what the needs of the force might be before making a pledge but noted he had expressed US willingness to contribute to Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo, the current chairman of the African Union (AU).
“I met with President Obasanjo (Thursday) evening and told him that what we had to do … is to get a firm handle on what would be required to move these additional troops into Darfur,” he said.
“I indicated to him that the United States would certainly be willing to contribute money to this effort,” Powell told reporters at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York where he is attending the UN General Assembly.
Powell predicted that others, including members of the European Union, would also assist the AU peacekeeping mission for Darfur where an estimated 50,000 people have died and around 1.2 million have been displaced by conflict.
“I think the international community understands the importance of this effort and the money will be forthcoming, but we have to have a good handle on how much is needed, what capabilities are needed to put this force into the field and sustain it,” Powell said.
Shortly before Powell spoke, UN chief Kofi Annan made an urgent appeal to the international community to help stop the bloodshed and suffering in Darfur.
“The whole world is watching this tragedy unfold and it is watching us,” Annan told a meeting of the UN Security Council. “The humanitarian emergency in Darfur is growing.”
Last week, the Security Council passed a resolution threatening sanctions on Sudan if it does not rein in pro-government militias in Darfur and calling for a beefed-up AU force of up to 5,000 troops to help stop the bloodshed.
Obasanjo, the current AU chairman, has said the union has the troops but needs money from the international community to fund the operation.
“I call upon the international community to continue to lend us its support in resolving the Darfur conflict and its consequences,” Obasanjo said in an address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.