SUDAN: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visits Darfur

A European Union delegation visited Darfur on Sunday (October 1) to find a formula to end the conflict and humanitarian crisis in western Sudan that is acceptable to both Khartoum and the international community. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and his aid chief Louis Michel wrapped up a two-day trip to Sudan with a five-hour stop in North Darfur. Efforts to win agreement from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for a 20,000-strong U.N. military force in Darfur are at a standstill. Bashir has refused to allow the troops into Darfur and his refusal has increased tensions with diplomats who passed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a U.N. force to replace 7,000 under-funded and badly equipped African Union (AU) troops. "If we want our efforts to be credible, we need stronger, more effective with more resources, presence of the international community in Darfur," Barroso told reporters in Al Fashir in Darfur, where a conflict that began in 2003 has killed some 200,000 people and driven millions from their homes. "There are obstacles sometimes put by the authorities themselves to the work of the African Union mission," said Barroso on the ineffectiveness of the African force. Western nations insist Khartoum must reconsider its objections. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this week that Sudan had to accept the U.N. mission or face confrontation with the international community. Barroso said Western nations must face the fact that Sudan had rejected the U.N. force and that it was necessary to find a workable formula before the AU mission ends on Dec. 31. Bashir reiterated his opposition to a U.N. force on Saturday night, talking about a hidden agenda and an American Trojan horse, a member of the European Commission delegation said. The Sudanese presidents sentiments were echoed on the ground by the Governor of North Darfur State. "Attempts to internationalize and transform the (African Union) forces into an international force is tantamount to jumping in the dark and it will not be welcomed," said Osman Youssef Kibir. But Barroso said he believed Bashir understood the current situation was not sustainable and the potential loss to Khartoum's international standing if it continued to refuse. The EU delegation in El Fashir moved quickly from one meeting to another in AU cars along the North Darfur capital's bumpy and sandy tracks. "There are obstacles sometimes put by the authorities themselves to the work of the African Union mission," said Barroso on the ineffectiveness of the African force. Aid workers and analysts have said violence in Darfur has worsened since a peace agreement was signed in May between the government and one rebel faction. Security concerns prevented the EU delegation from visiting a refugee camp. Barroso said: "According to our reports the situation is very risky. In some areas we can say that there has been a clear deterioration since May. So we can see the situation even worse in humanitarian terms." A World Food Programme official said: "In July we had almost half a million people we could not reach because of the fighting and the roads were too dangerous for our convoys to get through. Now in September, the figure is lower again; however we have 155,000 who haven't had food for four months." The EU on Sunday announced 40 million euros of humanitarian aid, most of which will go to food aid. Barroso's delegation were to meet African Union officials in Addis Ababa on Monday.

ITN Source | October 2, 2006

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