US backs expanded African Union operation in Darfur
By Guy Dinmore and Christopher Adams
WASHINGTON/LONDON, Oct 6, 2004 (Financial Times) — The US yesterday backed a United Nations call for the rapid deployment of an expanded African Union operation in Darfur, while Tony Blair, the British prime minister, prepared to fly to Khartoum to urge the Sudanese government to halt the violence that has cost more than 50,000 lives.
Following Sudan’s acceptance last week of a larger African Union mission, the US State Department said it had awarded contracts worth a total of $20.6m (?17m, £12m) to two US companies, PAE Group and Dyncorp, to provide logistics.
Officials said the US would not use its own military assets. In testimony to Congress last month, Colin Powell, secretary of state, accused the Sudanese government and allied Janjaweed Arab militia of committing genocide against African tribes. Mr Powell left open the possibility that the Pentagon would provide its own logistics.
Under the latest contract, PAE Group and Dyncorp will set up camps for the mission, procure office equipment and support vehicle maintenance.
The US is the largest donor, providing over $200m so far in mainly humanitarian assistance for more than 1.4m refugees and displaced people. Congress is being asked to agree to more funding, but the US is also waiting for the African Union to set out its needs.
With the death rate from killing, hunger and disease estimated at some 10,000 a month, the international community is being urged to move faster.
Jan Pronk, the UN envoy to Sudan, yesterday told the Security Council that both sides in the conflict continued to violate an April ceasefire agreement. He accused the Sudanese government and Janjaweed of continuing to attack and intimidate civilians.
Mr Pronk called for deployment of a larger African Union mission, with an expanded mandate, in the coming weeks. “It can help to protect the people by being present over a wide area, by being seen, by acting as a deterrent.”
The US State Department backed his appeal for a rapid deployment, but made no mention of broadening its mandate, which is to monitor the ceasefire accord.
Sudan, which is under the threat of UN sanctions, including measures against its oil industry, has given its consent to expand the African Union mission from the present 125 unarmed monitors and 300 soldiers to guard them. But while agreeing to a 3,000-strong force, it has not accepted a change in the mandate that would allow them to intervene.
John Prendergast, analyst with the International Crisis Group, said US reliance on private defence contractors had flaws but was not a big problem. Of more concern was the slowness of the international response, and the failure so far to rewrite the mandate of the African Union force so that it could protect civilians.
“Hard questions must be asked how this force will be relevant,” he said. A US official said there was no time to wrangle about a new mandate that Sudan had already rejected. “Let’s get the troops in and then take the next step,” he said.
Mr Blair, the first UK prime minister to visit Sudan, will spend only a few hours in Khartoum, meeting President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and senior officials. A UK spokesman said the aim was to “underline the message” that Sudan must comply with Security Council resolutions demanding it protect refugees and rein in the Janjaweed.
Mr Blair will then travel to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, for a two-day meeting of the UK-backed Commission for Africa.