AU studies NATO support for Darfur mission
By Mark John
BRUSSELS, April 27 (Reuters) – NATO is to study how it can help African Union forces in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur after being approached by the AU for talks, an alliance spokesman said on Wednesday.
It would be the 26-nation alliance’s first involvement in a mission on African soil, although NATO officials stressed talks would centre on options for logistical support rather than any major deployment of NATO troops.
“These are simply preliminary discussions,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai told a news briefing, adding that alliance Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hoped to meet AU Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare in Brussels on May 17.
He added that NATO envoys had agreed to launch “exploratory talks” after Konare wrote to de Hoop Scheffer on Wednesday asking for discussions. He declined to suggest what type of logistical support NATO could provide.
The AU has until now ignored NATO hints it could help. Its force in Darfur is expected to be doubled to 6,000 and given a stronger mandate to protect civilians who face attack when the AU’s Peace and Security Council meets in Ethiopia on Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her NATO counterparts at a meeting last week that the alliance must be ready to act fast on any request, insisting it had a responsibility to help alleviate the mass suffering there.
France in particular was reluctant to see a major NATO role, with Foreign Minister Michel Barnier stressing that “NATO has no vocation to be the gendarme of the world”.
Appathurai said the decision to hold talks had nonetheless won the backing of all 26 NATO nations, who said any involvement would be coordinated with the European Union, which already has some activities in Darfur.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million have fled their homes in more than two years of violence involving Arab militias, non-Arab rebels and Sudanese government forces in the remote western province.
De Hoop Scheffer has been an advocate of NATO going “out of area” to explore new roles for itself following the end of the Cold War and the increasing stability of the Balkans following the wars of the 1990s.
He has suggested NATO could offer its substantial military planning resources to support the AU, but Appathurai said the current talks would focus purely on logistical support.