A senior Sudanese official has rejected any immediate wider role for African Union troops in its troubled Darfur region, saying security in the western region was the responsibility of Sudanese forces. Sudan’s Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmad on Monday dismissed a proposal by the African Union to send nearly 2 000 peacekeepers to the area.
A people without hope in Sudan
The African Union forged ahead this week with far-reaching plans to steer the continent towards prosperity by tackling its most pressing security problems head-on, even if serious questions remain about finance. Gone are the days of non-interference in the affairs of fellow members when the stability of the continent is at stake.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118433">African Union’s Sudan pledge</a>
The African Union on Thursday committed itself to international military intervention in the Darfur crisis, setting it in direct confrontation with the Sudanese government. The AU, a pan-continental body, is to send a 300-strong protection force to Darfur to support 60 AU monitors who began work last month.
The pan-continental African Union on Tuesday launched a new Peace and Security Council, which it hopes will become a robust guarantor of stability in Africa, much like the United Nations Security Council. ”It is with joy, pride and great honour that I solemnly declare the Peace and Security Council of the African Union formally launched,” said Mozambique’s President Joaquim Chissano.
The African Union gave its stamp of approval late on Monday to last weekend’s first round of legislative elections in the Indian Ocean’s Comoro islands, but urged polling authorities to shape up their logistics. Sunday’s vote was for the brand new assemblies on the three autonomous Comoro islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli.
The African Union on Friday condemned the deadly Madrid train bombings that left 198 people dead, and called for an intensified global fight against terrorism. ”I condemn the terrorist act that took place in Madrid in which so many innocent people lost their lives and hundreds injured,” said AU Commission chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare.
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/ 21 November 2003
The Eritrean government on Friday announced it was recalling its Ambassador to the African Union because of its ”failure” to condemn Ethiopia’s ”gross violations” of the existing peace agreement.
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/ 20 November 2003
Zimbabwe has signed five African Union treaties, including pacts on human and women’s rights, corruption and the environment, the AU said on Thursday. The country’s permanent representative to the AU, Andrew Mtetwa, pledged his country’s ”appreciation to the AU for continued support”.
South African President Thabo Mbeki sought to inject urgency into the building of the African Union (AU) as the fledgling organisation kicked off its second summit in the Mozambican capital Maputo on Thursday.
Madagascar back in the AU fold