Sudan set to agree AU mandate extensionSeptember 18, 2006
It is likely we will arrive at an extension of the African Union mandate when the ministers meet in New York. There seems to be a common interest. It will give time for all sides to find a way out of this By Cynthia Johnston
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan is expected to agree to an extended African Union
peacekeeping mandate in Darfur when African foreign ministers meet in New York
on Monday, a presidential adviser said.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is under pressure to accept U.N.
peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur when the AU mandate in western Sudan expires on
September 30.
Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted presidential adviser Ghazi Salahuddin
Atabani as saying Sudan may allow AU troops to remain in Darfur past the
deadline with more help from the West.
"It is likely we will arrive at an extension of the African Union mandate
when the ministers meet in New York. There seems to be a common interest. It
will give time for all sides to find a way out of this," Atabani said.
Atabani said Sudan wanted to explore what it called "African Union Plus",
whereby AU peacekeepers remain in Darfur but get help in the form of helicopters
and surveillance technology from Western states.
Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha told a news conference in Khartoum
Sudan wanted the AU to be able to better implement a peace deal signed in Nigeria in May with one rebel faction.
"We call for strengthening efforts of the African Union. We call for
strengthening efforts aimed at implementing the Abuja agreement," he said.
The 7,000 under-funded and badly equipped AU troops have failed to stop the
violence that has killed an estimated 200,000 people and created one of the
world's worst humanitarian crises.
The United Nations wants to take control of the mission with 20,000 U.N.
peacekeepers who would more aggressively enforce the oft-violated ceasefire in
the region.
But Bashir, as recently as Saturday, said under no circumstances would he
allow the U.N. troops into Darfur.
Bashir has likened a U.N. presence to an invasion force bent on regime
change in Khartoum. Analysts say the government might also be concerned U.N.
troops could arrest suspects eventually named in warrants issued by the
International Criminal Court.
Sudanese state media said Bashir arrived in New York on Monday and would
address the AU meeting on Darfur.
FUNDING, NOT TROOPS
Years of fighting in Sudan's west have forced more than 2 million people to
flee their homes for overcrowded refugee camps with little prospect of returning
to the life they once knew.
Darfur villages and fields have been decimated since mostly non-Arab rebels
took up arms against the government in February 2003 to protest what they called
marginalization and neglect by leaders in Khartoum.
Sudan's finance minister said in Singapore on Monday that money earmarked
by the United Nations for peacekeepers would be better spent on development in
Darfur.
"People have focused on bringing the peacekeepers to Darfur, when we think
what Darfur needs is not peacekeepers. ... What Darfur needs most is resources
for water, resources for schools, for hospitals," Sudanese Finance Minister Lual
Deng told a news conference at International Monetary Fund-World Bank
meetings.
Deng said the government was jointly assessing Darfur's needs with the
World Bank, the United Nations and the African Development Bank.
On Sunday, peace activists around the world staged a day of action to
highlight what some call the "forgotten" conflict in Darfur.
Violence has increased in Darfur since the May peace agreement. Aid workers
say they have less access than at any time since the conflict began.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the U.N.'s new human rights watchdog's
opening session on Monday to tackle Darfur with the same focus as they do the
Middle East.
He said violence and abuse must be addressed equally wherever they
occurred.
"I feel I must draw your attention especially to those to which the people
of Darfur are being subjected, and which threaten to get even worse in the near
future," Annan said in a statement read out to the Geneva-based body.
(additional reporting by David Clarke in London, Jan Dahinten in Singapore,
Richard Waddington in Geneva)
Copyright © 2006 Reuters, All Rights Reserved.
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