Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has put a nail in the coffin of a proposed United Nations role in the peace mission in Darfur, possibly sending UN planners back to the drawing board.
At a news conference on Monday evening, Bashir repeated his hard-line position in opposition to a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force to deploy in the troubled region of western Sudan.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two weeks ago that Sudan had agreed to a joint UN-AU force. White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on Monday that an agreement on the joint force was being worked out.
But Bashir told the news conference: ”Any talk that we accepted joint forces is a lie.”
He reiterated his rejection of a UN Security Council resolution authorising about 22 500 UN troops and police to take over from the ill-equipped AU force that has failed to stem the violence in Darfur.
”It is clear that any forces coming to Sudan under resolution 1706 are colonising forces,” he said.
Bashir challenged any group to show proof of the numbers killed in Darfur. Experts and top UN officials estimate about 200 000 have been killed in three-and-a-half years of conflict.
”Counting all those killed in battles between the armed forces, the rebels and the tribes, the number does not reach 9 000,” he said. In September he said the number killed was 10 000.
Bashir denies US charges of genocide in Darfur. An inquiry appointed by the UN found no genocide but said that some individuals may have acted with genocidal intent.
He also said he would not accept 17 000 troops in Darfur to support the about 7 000 AU troops, adding only two extra battalions were needed.
”The AU force commander … asked for two extra battalions … so only two battalions more [are] needed,” he said.
Aid agencies
Bashir said security in Darfur was better than ever and UN and other reports of deteriorating security were lies.
”The security problems are only in five of the 23 localities of Darfur … More than 90% of the security incidents since the [peace] deal were rebel infighting,” he said.
He also accused aid agencies in Darfur, where 14 000 aid workers are involved in one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations, of giving false information on the crisis to prolong their jobs in the region.
Of the more than two million languishing in miserable camps in Darfur, he said their testimonies of family members being killed and the prevalence of rape were not true.
”The camps have been politicised,” he said, adding the areas around the camps were perfectly safe.
US President George Bush on Monday telephoned Chinese and Egyptian counterparts Hu Jintao and Hosni Mubarak to try to enlist their help in urging Sudan to accept the UN-AU force.
Bush also asked Hu and Mubarak ”to encourage President Bashir to stop any military activities by the Janjaweed [militia] and other forces against innocents in Darfur”, national security adviser Hadley said.
Bashir sharply criticised international media for focusing on Darfur to take attention away from US policy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He added Israel had an indirect role in the Darfur problem. ”We have received indications and messages … that Sudan’s problems are related to the [lack] of normalisation of relations with Israel,” he said.
Sudan’s Islamist government does not recognise Israel.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing the central government of marginalising the arid region. Khartoum mobilised tribal militias to quell the revolt.
The militias, known as Janjaweed, stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and pillage, which aid agencies say has killed 200 000 and forced 2,5-million to flee their homes. — Reuters