Sudan welcomes Darfur extension

SUDANESE officials have welcomed a decision by the African Union to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Darfur until the end of the year.

Foreign Minister Al-Sammani Al-Wasila Al-Sammani told AFP news agency the force was preferable to a UN force proposed by the Security Council. But he said a six-month extension to the mandate would have been better.The UN wants to send peacekeepers to end what some states call genocide by Sudan’s army and associated militias.However the Sudanese government has repeatedly rejected plans to transform the African force into the 22 000-strong UN mission agreed to by the Security Council last month.The BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Darfur says African Union (AU) troops are providing some security but it is a mere sticking plaster on a gaping wound.More than 200 000 people have died in the three-year rebellion.Over two million people have been displaced.Mr Al-Sammani said the 7 000-strong AU force – which had been due to leave by 30 September – was better than the alternatives.”It is easier for the international community to assist financially and technically an AU force which is already on the ground rather than starting from scratch with other forces like those of the UN.”Meanwhile Sudanese presidential adviser Majdhub al-Khalifah said the AU decision would give an impetus to Khartoum and signatory rebel movements to implement the Abuja peace agreement on the ground.UK Foreign Office spokesman Lord Triesman said that while the extension of the AU force was not the solution to the problem it could serve as a transitional stage before the UN came in.BBCBut he said a six-month extension to the mandate would have been better.The UN wants to send peacekeepers to end what some states call genocide by Sudan’s army and associated militias.However the Sudanese government has repeatedly rejected plans to transform the African force into the 22 000-strong UN mission agreed to by the Security Council last month.The BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Darfur says African Union (AU) troops are providing some security but it is a mere sticking plaster on a gaping wound.More than 200 000 people have died in the three-year rebellion.Over two million people have been displaced.Mr Al-Sammani said the 7 000-strong AU force – which had been due to leave by 30 September – was better than the alternatives.”It is easier for the international community to assist financially and technically an AU force which is already on the ground rather than starting from scratch with other forces like those of the UN.”Meanwhile Sudanese presidential adviser Majdhub al-Khalifah said the AU decision would give an impetus to Khartoum and signatory rebel movements to implement the Abuja peace agreement on the ground.UK Foreign Office spokesman Lord Triesman said that while the extension of the AU force was not the solution to the problem it could serve as a transitional stage before the UN came in.BBC