The Sudanese government is putting up obstacles to the deployment of a 26 000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur that could destroy the effectiveness of the joint United Nations (UN)-African Union (AU) mission, the United Nations peacekeeping chief warned on Tuesday.
Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council that if discussions with the government do not clear the path, members will have to decide whether to deploy a force ”that will not make a difference”, cannot defend itself, and risks humiliating the United Nations and failing the people of Darfur.
Guehenno recalled that in June Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir agreed to the AU-UN peacekeeping plan without preconditions and in September he gave Secretary General Ban Ki-moon personal assurances that the government would facilitate the deployment of the so-called ”hybrid” force.
Over the past few weeks, however, the government’s reluctance to facilitate ”practical preparations” for the force, as well as public statements by senior Sudanese officials raising questions about past agreements, ”call into question that commitment”, he said.
Guehenno cited Sudan’s refusal to sign off on the composition of the force proposed by the UN and AU, its failure to give the force permission to fly at night, to provide land for the force in several key towns, and to authorise the deployment of six helicopters to el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
He again appealed to UN member states to provide 24 critically needed helicopters for the hybrid force. He warned that if there are no offers by early next year, the council might have to consider options ”to mitigate the lack of air mobility”.
African force
Sudan had for months resisted a push for UN peacekeepers to replace the overwhelmed 7 000-strong AU force now in Darfur, where more than 200 000 people have died and 2,5-million have been displaced in four-and-a-half years of fighting. But Sudan agreed to the force in June and it is expected to take over on January 1 and start deploying early next year.
The Security Council agreed that the force should be predominantly African — at Sudan’s insistence. But Khartoum has refused to approve Thai, Nepal and Nordic units, which Guehenno said are essential, even though 90% of the ground troops and 75% of the proposed force are from Africa.
Sudan also wants the Status of Forces Agreement with the AU-UN force to include provisions on communications and the movement of troops and personnel, ”which in our experience would make it impossible for the mission to operate”, Guehenno said.
One proposal would allow the government to ”temporarily disable the communications network” in case of security operations to protect the country’s sovereignty. The other would require the AU-UN force to provide ”advance notification to the government for all staff, troop and asset movements”, he said.
Sudan’s UN ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed countered that his government has provided land, logistics, and ”done everything” to fulfill its commitments.
He accused the UN-AU team of ”dramatising small administrative and technical issues” and ”giving the council a horrible picture about Sudan’s cooperation”.
”You can achieve a lot through dialogue and engagement rather than threats,” Mohamed said.
”Things should be done through consultations, through transparency, through dialogue. We are open for that.”
He said the Status of Forces Agreement is still being discussed, and that 98% of the proposed force has been accepted and should be deployed while discussions continue about the rest. He said there are African troops — including an Egyptian special forces unit -‒ that should be included in the hybrid operation.
The conflict began when ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in 2003, accusing it of decades of discrimination and neglect.
Sudan’s government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed — a charge it denies.
The government signed a peace agreement with one rebel group in May 2006, but other rebel groups refused — and many of those groups have since splintered, complicating prospects for a political settlement.
UN and AU-brokered talks to try to end the Darfur conflict were held in late October in Libya without the most prominent rebel leaders.
Jan Eliasson, the UN’s chief mediator, told the Security Council he hopes in the coming weeks that ”two or three groups of movements” will emerge instead of the numerous factions — and that they will be able to crystallise their positions, nominate negotiating teams, and finalise preparations for talks to start soon after.
In the meantime, Eliasson said he and AU negotiator Salim Ahmed Salim will meet key regional players — Egypt, Eritrea, Chad and Libya — in Egypt on December 4 to determine the course ahead.
He expressed concern at the ”gradual deterioration in the political, security and humanitarian field … since the summer”.
Inter-tribal conflicts over land and water resources persist, frustration and anger in camps for displaced Sudanese are rising, burned out villages are being reoccupied which is a ”ticking bomb”, access for humanitarian workers continues to be impeded, and tensions have rising between the government and former rebels in the south, he said.
Nonetheless, Eliasson said, ”I believe we should all remain confident of the potential of this [political] process to bring about a peace agreement for Darfur.” ‒ Sapa-AP