UN: Sudan blocks deployment of Darfur force
1:00 AM
Posted: Wednesday, November 28, 2007
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The Sudanese government is throwing up numerous obstacles to the deployment of a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur which could destroy the effectiveness of the joint U.N.-African Union mission, the U.N. peacekeeping chief warned Tuesday.
Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council that if discussions with the government don't clear the path for an effective force, members will have to decide whether to deploy a force "that will not make a difference," can't defend itself, and risks humiliating the United Nations and failing the people of Darfur.
Guehenno recalled that in June Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir agreed to the AU-UN peacekeeping plan without preconditions and in September he gave Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon personal assurances that the government would facilitate the deployment of the so-called "hybrid" force.
Over the past few weeks, however, the government's reluctance to facilitate "practical preparations" for the force, as well as public statements by senior Sudanese officials raising questions about past agreements "call into question that commitment," he said.
Guehenno cited Sudan's refusal to sign off on the composition of the force proposed by the UN and AU, its failure to give the force permission to fly at night, to provide land for the force in several key towns, and to authorize the deployment of six helicopters to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
He again appealed to U.N. member states to provide 24 critically needed helicopters for the hybrid force, warning that if there are no offers by early next year, the council might have to consider options "to mitigate the lack of air mobility."
Sudan had for months resisted a push for U.N. peacekeepers to replace the overwhelmed 7,000-strong AU force now in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in 4 1/2 years of fighting. But Sudan agreed in June and the AU-UN force is expected to take over on Jan. 1 and start deploying early next year.
The Security Council agreed that the force should be predominantly African -- at Sudan's insistence -- but Khartoum has refused to approve units from Thailand, Nepal and the Nordic countries.
Sudan also wants the Status of Forces Agreement with the AU-UN force to include provisions on communications and the movement of troops and personnel "which in our experience would make it impossible for the mission to operate," Guehenno said.
One proposal would allow the government to "temporarily disable the communications network" in case of security operations to protect the country's sovereignty, and the other would require the AU-UN force to provide "advance notification to the government for all staff, troop and asset movements," he said.
Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed countered that his government has provided land, logistics, and "done everything" to fulfill its commitments.
He accused the UN-AU team of "dramatizing small administrative and technical issues" and "giving the council a horrible picture about Sudan's cooperation."
"You can achieve a lot through dialogue and engagement rather than threats," Mohamed said. "Things should be done through consultations, through transparency, through dialogue. We are open for that."
He said the Status of Forces Agreement is still being discussed, that 98 percent of the proposed force has been accepted and should be deployed while discussions continue about the rest. He said there are African troops -- including an Egyptian special forces unit -- that should be included in the hybrid operation.
The conflict began when ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of discrimination and neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed -- a charge it denies.
The government signed a peace agreement with one rebel group in May 2006, but other rebel groups refused -- and many of those groups have since splintered, complicating prospects for a political settlement.
U.N. and AU-brokered talks to try to end the Darfur conflict were held in late October in Libya without the most prominent rebel leaders.
Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council that if discussions with the government don't clear the path for an effective force, members will have to decide whether to deploy a force "that will not make a difference," can't defend itself, and risks humiliating the United Nations and failing the people of Darfur.
Guehenno recalled that in June Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir agreed to the AU-UN peacekeeping plan without preconditions and in September he gave Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon personal assurances that the government would facilitate the deployment of the so-called "hybrid" force.
Over the past few weeks, however, the government's reluctance to facilitate "practical preparations" for the force, as well as public statements by senior Sudanese officials raising questions about past agreements "call into question that commitment," he said.
Guehenno cited Sudan's refusal to sign off on the composition of the force proposed by the UN and AU, its failure to give the force permission to fly at night, to provide land for the force in several key towns, and to authorize the deployment of six helicopters to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
He again appealed to U.N. member states to provide 24 critically needed helicopters for the hybrid force, warning that if there are no offers by early next year, the council might have to consider options "to mitigate the lack of air mobility."
Sudan had for months resisted a push for U.N. peacekeepers to replace the overwhelmed 7,000-strong AU force now in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in 4 1/2 years of fighting. But Sudan agreed in June and the AU-UN force is expected to take over on Jan. 1 and start deploying early next year.
The Security Council agreed that the force should be predominantly African -- at Sudan's insistence -- but Khartoum has refused to approve units from Thailand, Nepal and the Nordic countries.
Sudan also wants the Status of Forces Agreement with the AU-UN force to include provisions on communications and the movement of troops and personnel "which in our experience would make it impossible for the mission to operate," Guehenno said.
One proposal would allow the government to "temporarily disable the communications network" in case of security operations to protect the country's sovereignty, and the other would require the AU-UN force to provide "advance notification to the government for all staff, troop and asset movements," he said.
Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed countered that his government has provided land, logistics, and "done everything" to fulfill its commitments.
He accused the UN-AU team of "dramatizing small administrative and technical issues" and "giving the council a horrible picture about Sudan's cooperation."
"You can achieve a lot through dialogue and engagement rather than threats," Mohamed said. "Things should be done through consultations, through transparency, through dialogue. We are open for that."
He said the Status of Forces Agreement is still being discussed, that 98 percent of the proposed force has been accepted and should be deployed while discussions continue about the rest. He said there are African troops -- including an Egyptian special forces unit -- that should be included in the hybrid operation.
The conflict began when ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of discrimination and neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed -- a charge it denies.
The government signed a peace agreement with one rebel group in May 2006, but other rebel groups refused -- and many of those groups have since splintered, complicating prospects for a political settlement.
U.N. and AU-brokered talks to try to end the Darfur conflict were held in late October in Libya without the most prominent rebel leaders.
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