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Sudan must agree UN peacekeepers into Darfur – AU

May 23, 2006 (KHARTOUM/LONDON) — Sudan must agree to let a U.N. peacekeeping force into Darfur within weeks to make sure a peace agreement is applied, African Union commission chief Alpha Konare said on Tuesday.

Alpha_Oumar_Konare.jpg“In two months’ time the rainy season starts. If confidence does not rule again to improve the security situation by then, it could be very bad,” he told reporters after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“The credibility of the agreement lies in making sure the undertakings are applied. We must lose no more time. If there is any doubt, everything comes into question,” he added.

He was speaking as senior U.N. diplomats began talks in Khartoum to try to persuade Sudan to agree to the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to replace a cash-strapped and ill-equipped African Union (AU) force.

Khartoum initially resisted the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, saying this would cause an Iraq-like quagmire that would attract Islamist militants into attacking the U.N. troops.

But since the government and the main Darfur rebel group signed a peace deal on May 5, Khartoum has softened its stance.

It says it does not reject a U.N. force but wants to be consulted about its mandate in Darfur — an ethnically mixed region the size of France, whose people have been swept up by a wave of violence since the rebellion began in 2003.

Despite the peace deal, dozens have since been killed in clashes between rebels and government-armed Arab militias.

Veteran troubleshooter Lakhdar Brahimi and U.N. peacekeeping head Hedi Annabi were to hold several days of talks with Sudanese government leaders, including President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to discuss the deployment of U.N. troops.

“We are hoping that we can work out an agreement with the government because … this should not be done without the agreement of the government,” said U.N. deputy spokesman Bahaa Elkoussy.

The two U.N. diplomats met deputy foreign minister Al-Samani al-Wasiyla and AU mission head Baba Gana Kingibe and were expected to meet Bashir on Thursday, Elkoussy said. They were not expected to make any comment on their visit on Tuesday.

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution this month that envisages U.N. peacekeepers taking over from 7,000 AU troops.

ANNAN REPORT

The AU force has been monitoring a widely ignored truce in Darfur, but since the May 5 deal Arab Janjaweed militias have grown bolder and attacked towns where the AU has bases.

More than 250,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of the year because of the conflict. Frustrated Darfuris have begun to attack the AU force, killing an interpreter earlier this month.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned the Sudanese government that its restrictions on supplies and relief workers in Darfur is a violation of international humanitarian law.

He said in a report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday that atrocities, including rape and pillaging, were swelling the population in squalid camps, now about 2.5 million.

Rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing the Arab-dominated central government of neglecting Darfur. Khartoum armed mostly Arab tribes to crush the rebels.

Despite intense international pressure two of the three rebel Darfur groups involved in peace negotiations refused to sign the May 5 deal, saying it was unfair.

The AU said on Monday Janjaweed militiamen were massing in North and South Darfur and attacking villages and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) accused the government of violating the accord by attacking SLA bases in Dar el-Salaam in North Darfur and flying Antonov planes over rebel areas.

The government denied the accusation.

(Reuters)

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