UN Sec Council descends on Sudan to discuss Darfur

FRANKFURT – The United Nations Security Council descended on Sudan for the first time yesterday to try to convince the Khartoum government that a UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur was not tantamount to an invasion force.

At the same time, several of the 15 council members intend to tell Sudanese leaders that they have not done enough to protect their own people, regardless of who started the conflict, which has cost tens of thousands of lives. Sudan signed a peace agreement with the main Darfur rebel faction on May 5.Since then international efforts have intensified to persuade Khartoum to allow the United Nations to take over peacekeeping in Darfur from 7 000 badly equipped and under-funded African Union troops.Sudan has agreed to allow a UN military planning team to go to Darfur, probably this week, but ruling parties are divided over whether the United Nations should take over from the AU.Greek Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, during a stopover in Frankfurt on the flight to Khartoum, said Sudanese leaders felt they needed more time to pull together their government, following a power-sharing agreement last year with former southern rebels.China’s UN ambassador Wang Guangya agreed, saying a recent council resolution ordering Sudan to allow in the UN planning teams disappointed the Arab-dominated Khartoum government.Instead they had expected to be complimented for their flexibility in negotiations with Darfur rebels, not all of whom have signed the accord.Some Sudanese fear NATO soldiers among the UN force and believe any mandate under enforcement provisions in Chapter 7 of the UN Charter constitutes an invasion.Chapter 7 is cited in nearly all UN peacekeeping operations.- Nampa-ReutersSudan signed a peace agreement with the main Darfur rebel faction on May 5.Since then international efforts have intensified to persuade Khartoum to allow the United Nations to take over peacekeeping in Darfur from 7 000 badly equipped and under-funded African Union troops.Sudan has agreed to allow a UN military planning team to go to Darfur, probably this week, but ruling parties are divided over whether the United Nations should take over from the AU.Greek Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, during a stopover in Frankfurt on the flight to Khartoum, said Sudanese leaders felt they needed more time to pull together their government, following a power-sharing agreement last year with former southern rebels.China’s UN ambassador Wang Guangya agreed, saying a recent council resolution ordering Sudan to allow in the UN planning teams disappointed the Arab-dominated Khartoum government.Instead they had expected to be complimented for their flexibility in negotiations with Darfur rebels, not all of whom have signed the accord.Some Sudanese fear NATO soldiers among the UN force and believe any mandate under enforcement provisions in Chapter 7 of the UN Charter constitutes an invasion.Chapter 7 is cited in nearly all UN peacekeeping operations.- Nampa-Reuters