Sudan on Friday pressed efforts to mend fences with the United Nations, denying suggestions that it had tried to ”intimidate” countries planning to contribute troops to a proposed UN force for war-torn Darfur.
On Thursday the Security Council held a special meeting to discuss a Sudanese letter sent to African and Arab countries on Tuesday warning them that providing troops for the UN force would be seen by Khartoum as a ”hostile act” and ”a prelude to an invasion of a member country of the UN.”
The letter restated Khartoum’s ”total rejection” of a Security Council resolution passed in August mandating the deployment of up to 20 000 UN peacekeepers to Darfur to shore up the fragile peace accord.
Japan’s UN Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, in his capacity as the council president for October, briefed the council on his talks a day earlier with his Sudanese counterpart, ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad, to discuss what some members viewed as an ”inappropriate” and ”offensive” letter.
Mohamad told reporters here on Friday that the letter had not sought to intimidate anyone but came in response to queries from potential troop-contributing countries about how they should respond to a UN appeal for troops.
”There was no hostility in the letter at all. We did not intimidate. We are the victim of intimidation,” he noted. ”Our intention has always been dialogue [with the UN] and not confrontation.”
Sudan’s ambassador in Washington also went to the US State Department to clarify Khartoum’s stance.
State Department deputy spokesperson Tom Casey said the Sudanese had ”clarified their position” following the earlier letter ”and have basically backed off those assertions”.
”In fact, they’ve made clear to us that that idea that somehow offering contributions to a UN force could be some kind of hostile act in fact does not reflect the policy of their government,” Casey added.
The Sudanese envoy here urged the council to instead focus a conciliatory letter Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir sent to both UN chief Kofi Annan and Alpha Konare, the chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The Beshir letter welcomed a recent UN offer of logistical support to the ill-equipped AU force in Darfur and pointed to a number of actions taken by Khartoum to ensure ”effective implementation” of the Darfur peace agreement reached last May.
Meanwhile UN chief Kofi Annan welcomed Beshir’s letter and Khartoum’s acceptance of UN technical support for the ill-equipped African Union force in Darfur.
Annan’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement that Annan welcomed Sudan’s ”expressed readiness to pursue its dialogue with the United Nations in the interest of an early resolution of the Darfur crisis”.
Meanwhile the Security Council unanimously voted to extend at least until next April the mandate of the UN force deployed in south Sudan but made no decision on beefing up the force or changing its mandate.
Last August, the council had suggested beefing up that force known as Unmis and using it for peacekeeping duties in Darfur.
Some Council members led by Britain are pushing for a four-stage Darfur strategy, beginning with a beefing-up of the cash-strapped AU force with rapid technical assistance from the UN.
Another key step would be to get full implementation of the Darfur peace agreement, notably by getting the two Darfur rebel groups which have not yet signed it to do so promptly.
The strategy would also involve continued international efforts to persuade Beshir that allowing a UN force into Darfur was in
Sudan’s best interest.
Britain is also pushing for better security provided by a police force for displaced persons in camps in Chad, which has been reeling from the spillover for the Darfur conflict.
Since war broke out in Darfur in February 2003, at least 200&nbps;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. – Sapa-AFP