The extension of the African Union’s mandate in Sudan’s Darfur was welcomed on Thursday by all sides but tough negotiations on a transition to a United Nations peacekeeping force were set to continue.
”The extension is welcome and would have been much better if it had been extended even longer, six months for instance, because the African troops have now got acquainted with the region and its people and their performance has been commended by the international community,” State Foreign Minister al-Sammani al-Wasila al-Sammani said.
On Wednesday night, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) agreed to extend the mission of its monitors in Darfur, temporarily defusing an international diplomatic crisis over the war-torn territory.
”There has been an agreement to extend the mandate of the [AU] force for three months until December 31 while pushing for a dialogue between the Sudanese government and the UN,” said Burkina Faso President Blaise Campaore, the PSC chairperson.
He said the 7 200-strong AU force, known as Amis, would be strengthened ”through contributions from Africa, logistical and material support from the UN and a commitment by the Arab League to fund the operation”.
Commenting on the PSC’s decision, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said at UN headquarters Wednesday: ”It is a step back from the brink but there’s a lot more to do in the future.”
Since the war broke out in February 2003, at least 200 000 people have died from the combined effects of fighting, famine and disease, according to the UN. Some sources say the toll is much higher.
Rights groups also welcomed the AU’s decision after fearing the row between Sudan and the UN over the future of peacekeeping in Darfur would leave civilians unprotected.
”This is excellent news. Despite being under-resourced and under-manned, the AU has responded to international concern for the fate of Darfur’s Africans and decided to stay,” said Dr James Smith, head of the Aegis Trust.
The British-based rights organisation hailed the decision as being partly the result of the ”Global Day for Darfur”, which was marked by dozens of civil society groups worldwide on September 17.
Yet the decision left many questions unanswered as to what would happen after the expiry of the AU mission’s mandate at the end of the year.
”The decision is a good one, any international presence in Darfur is better than no international presence … But this cannot be portrayed as a victory for Sudan, the international community still targets a UN mission,” a Western diplomat in Khartoum said.
”The international community will certainly continue to put pressure on the government,” the diplomat told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.
”Pressure has been largely rhetorical so far,” the diplomat said, adding that the international community could ”start taking measures that will show there will be a cost to pay” for President Omar al-Beshir.
The veteran president has consistently opposed plans for a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur, alleging that the deployment was engineered by Washington to invade his country and plunder its resources.
Analysts argue Khartoum fears that a UN presence in Darfur could pave the way for arrests of government officials accused of war crimes.
The UN already has thousands of peacekeepers deployed in the south of Sudan to monitor a peace deal signed in January 2005 between Khartoum and the former southern rebels.
The UN Security Council late last month adopted a resolution calling for the deployment of up to 20 000 UN peacekeepers in Darfur, a territory roughly the size of France where African monitors have failed to stop the bloodshed. — AFP
