More UN, AU forces urged for Darfur

UNITED NATIONS – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged the Security Council to bolster beleaguered African Union (AU) troops in Darfur and appealed for world support to end the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s strife-torn region.

Addressing a special ministerial session of the 15-member council, the US chief diplomat hailed last week’s inter-Sudanese peace accord signed between Khartoum and the main Darfur rebel group in Abuja, Nigeria as a “historic opportunity for the people of Darfur to secure real peace”. “The United States urges the Security Council to quickly pass the resolution we circulated yesterday,” she said.The US draft was circulated three days after Khartoum and the main rebel group in Darfur signed a peace pact to end three years of fighting in the arid region of western Sudan that Washington says has left some 200 000 people dead.It would call on Khartoum to cooperate fully and allow a UN assessment team to travel to Darfur to pave the way for deploying a UN force to eventually take over peacekeeping from the cash-strapped AU force.As an interim measure, it would expand the mandate of the 10 100 members of the UN mission (UNMIS) currently deployed in southern Sudan to authorise support for the Abuja deal, including providing logistical support” to the 7 000 AU troops in Darfur.US officials, who have branded the bloodshed “genocide,” said their aim was to transform the AU contingent in Darfur into a UN force with double the manpower and increased NATO logistical support.Rice also underscored the need to address the humanitarian challenge in Darfur, saying: “I call upon all nations to do their part to help the World Food Program feed and care for the people of Darfur.””This is not a challenge for Africa alone or for America alone,” she said.” This is a challenity of nations and it is one that cannot be taken lightly.”Rice said her government planned to attend a Dutch-hosted conference on development and reconstruction in Darfur and urged others to do so as well.Opening the council meeting, UN chief Kofi Annan voiced regret that significant rebel leaders had not yet signed the Abuja deal, said: “We must do whatever we can to convince them to choose peace over conflict”.”Next, we must do everything in our power to ensure that those who have signed the agreement actually implement it on the ground,” he added.The African Union-brokered Abuja accord was signed last Friday by Khartoum and the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, led by Minna Minnawi.Another rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and a smaller faction of the divided SLM, led by Abdelwahid al-Nur, refused to sign it.But Tuesday the accord appeared in jeopardy as the top adviser to the leader of the SLM faction that signed up to it urged the UN to freeze its implementation.In a letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, adviser Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim said SLM chairman Minni Minnawi had been pressured into signing an “incomplete agreement” that would likely fail to solve the crisis.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric however said “no letter has yet been received”.Britain’s new foreign secretary Margaret Beckett noted that the Abuja accord “is only the start of rebuilding Darfur” and highlighted three major challenges for the world community.One was to beef up the AU force in Darfur, by convening the pledging donors conference soon, another to speed up the transition to a UN force “with detailed planning proposals from the UN” to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.The council unanimously adopted a non-binding statement welcoming the Abuja accord and calling on the African Union and the United Nations to convene a pledging conference without delay to support the peace process.Annan also appealed for additional resources for the AU contingent in Darfur, saying donors should not wait for the pledging conference planned for early June in Brussels to contribute funds.- Nampa-AFP”The United States urges the Security Council to quickly pass the resolution we circulated yesterday,” she said.The US draft was circulated three days after Khartoum and the main rebel group in Darfur signed a peace pact to end three years of fighting in the arid region of western Sudan that Washington says has left some 200 000 people dead.It would call on Khartoum to cooperate fully and allow a UN assessment team to travel to Darfur to pave the way for deploying a UN force to eventually take over peacekeeping from the cash-strapped AU force.As an interim measure, it would expand the mandate of the 10 100 members of the UN mission (UNMIS) currently deployed in southern Sudan to authorise support for the Abuja deal, including providing logistical support” to the 7 000 AU troops in Darfur.US officials, who have branded the bloodshed “genocide,” said their aim was to transform the AU contingent in Darfur into a UN force with double the manpower and increased NATO logistical support.Rice also underscored the need to address the humanitarian challenge in Darfur, saying: “I call upon all nations to do their part to help the World Food Program feed and care for the people of Darfur.””This is not a challenge for Africa alone or for America alone,” she said.” This is a challenity of nations and it is one that cannot be taken lightly.”Rice said her government planned to attend a Dutch-hosted conference on development and reconstruction in Darfur and urged others to do so as well.Opening the council meeting, UN chief Kofi Annan voiced regret that significant rebel leaders had not yet signed the Abuja deal, said: “We must do whatever we can to convince them to choose peace over conflict”.”Next, we must do everything in our power to ensure that those who have signed the agreement actually implement it on the ground,” he added.The African Union-brokered Abuja accord was signed last Friday by Khartoum and the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, led by Minna Minnawi.Another rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and a smaller faction of the divided SLM, led by Abdelwahid al-Nur, refused to sign it.But Tuesday the accord appeared in jeopardy as the top adviser to the leader of the SLM faction that signed up to it urged the UN to freeze its implementation.In a letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, adviser Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim said SLM chairman Minni Minnawi had been pressured into signing an “incomplete agreement” that would likely fail to solve the crisis.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric however said “no letter has yet been received”.Britain’s new foreign secretary Margaret Beckett noted that the Abuja accord “is only the start of rebuilding Darfur” and highlighted three major challenges for the world community.One was to beef up the AU force in Darfur, by convening the pledging donors conference soon, another to speed up the transition to a UN force “with detailed planning proposals from the UN” to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.The council unanimously adopted a non-binding statement welcoming the Abuja accord and calling on the African Union and the United Nations to convene a pledging conference without delay to support the peace process.Annan also appealed for additional resources for the AU contingent in Darfur, saying donors should not wait for the pledging conference planned for early June in Brussels to contribute funds.- Nampa-AFP