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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SUDAN: Gov't renews ultimatum for African force in Darfur
ADDIS ABABA, 14 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Sudan is refusing to back down from its position that the African Union (AU) would have to withdraw its peace mission from Darfur on 30 September if it transfers its force to a United Nations-led operation.
"The government of Sudan has not accepted and will not accept UN peacekeepers ... what we need is a partnership between all of us [AU, Sudan and international community] and not [enforced] resolutions," the Sudanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Al-Samani Al-Wasila, told reporters in Addis Ababa after a closed-door meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council on Somalia and Darfur on Wednesday.
"If it is within this understanding we are ready to cooperate and talk, if it is otherwise, they [the AU] have to pack up their troops and leave on the 30th of September," he added. "In case they decide to transfer their mandate to the UN, we'll say farewell to them and would take over our responsibility as a government - we are not a failing state."
The Sudanese minister said the AU mission was still welcome in his country and that Sudan would be ready to finance an extension of the mandate of the cash-trapped force with the help of Arab League funds.
"If they [the AU] say that their reason to go is lack of money, we say the money is there, we give it to you," Al-Wasila said. "The money is coming from the Arab League ... we know 100 percent that the money is there," he added, without giving a specific amount.
The deployment of a UN force of 17,500 troops and 3,300 civilian police is contingent on consent from Sudan, which has so far rejected such a move.
Last week, the Sudanese government gave the AU a week to decide whether it would keep its troops in Darfur under its current mandate, or leave the country. Meanwhile, authorities have proposed their own protection plan, which involves deploying another 10,500 troops to "consolidate the security situation".
The mandate of the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is due to expire on 30 September. Despite the one-week deadline set by the Sudanese government, the AU will convene at ministerial level in New York on 18 September, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, to take a decision on the future of its mission.
On 31 August, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a gradual transition from the under-funded and under-equipped AU mission to a stronger UN protection force, after the AU had agreed in principle to a transfer last March.
The three-year conflict in Darfur has left more than 200,000 people dead, and displaced two million. The fighting has escalated, since the signing of a 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and one of three main rebel groups.
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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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