USA: United Nations said it still wanted to see U.N. troops takeover peacekeeping duties in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, a day after African leaders extended the mandate of A.U. forces

The United Nations said on Thursday (September 21) that it still wanted to see UN troops takeover peacekeeping duties in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, a day after African leaders extended the mandate of Africa Union (AU) forces in the region until the end of the year. "I think that a strong, lasting, well-financed UN force is always better," UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, told reporters in Khartoum. Sudan is under international pressure to allow 20,000 UN troops to deploy in Darfur to replace the African troops. A UN force is seen as better able to aggressively enforce a peace deal signed in May by the government and one rebel faction. Western leaders, some African presidents and international humanitarian groups say a UN force is the only way to stem the violence in Darfur. The AU's Peace and Security Council on Wednesday (September 20) extended to the year's end a mandate for 7,000 African forces monitoring a Darfur truce. But Pronk argued these forces could be effective only if their mandate was strengthened considerably. "A stronger AU, bigger, with more support from the UN and not only from some individual countries, not only financially but also with staff, could be a way out for the short run and I really hope that the government will accept something like that," he said. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has repeatedly rejected such the deployment of UN troops, likening them to an invasion force bent on regime change in Khartoum. Sudan welcomed the extension of the AU force mandate. "We appreciate this decision from the AU Peace and Security Council and we think that it is a duty of the AU to carry over continually its duties and mandate in Sudan for the implementation of the DPA (Darfur Peace Agreement) to which it's the main signatory and it is the main guarantor," Sudanese presidential advisor, Majzoub al-Khalifa said. "And we are going to react positively with the AU, both military mission AMIS and the political and executive administration here in Khartoum for the implementation of the DPA," added Khalifa, who was the chief government negotiator at the Darfur peace negotiations in the Nigerian capital Abuja. This, however, does not mean that there will not be any role for the U.N. to play in the search for peace in Darfur, according to Khalifa. "We accept a UN role, but its role to consolidate the AU forces, humanitarian support, to continue the political dialogue and any other action that would consolidate the AU and implementation of the agreement, to support the agreement and the parties to it," Khalifa said. The extension of the African troop presence headed off an immediate crisis over Darfur, where the UN had said 350,000 more people could be displaced in a security void should African forces withdraw without a U.N. force to replace them. An estimated 200,000 people have died in Darfur since violence flared in 2003, and 2 million have been displaced in the fighting between government forces, rebels and militias.

ITN Source | September 22, 2006

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