U.S. Says Africa Should Not Be Sole Source of Darfur Peacekeepers
12 June 2007
State Department says Sudan's latest conditions would not allow effective force
Washington -- Sudan’s insistence that only African troops participate in a hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur would render the force ineffective since the continent cannot supply the number of needed troops, the Bush administration says.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters June 12 that Sudan’s reported agreement with the African Union (AU) to accept the deployment, mandate and structure of a peacekeeping force includes “fine print” that “the force should be limited to African troops.”
Under that condition, he said, it would be “very difficult” to achieve the full 17,000 to 19,000 troop level, as called for under the deployment plan to help implement the peace framework established in November 2006 by leaders meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (See related article.)
“[I]t's not a lack of will or a lack of desire on the part of the African countries, but the assets simply aren't there,” McCormack said, adding that Sudan’s offer “is in effect to say that you are not agreeing to the full 17,000 to 19,000 troops, which … the experts believe is what you need in order to perform the mission.”
McCormack said the United States is “still waiting” for Sudan to agree to an effective hybrid force.
The spokesman also said the Bush administration has been continuing its diplomatic efforts to deploy the force. It also is providing direct funding to the AU to keep its existing peacekeeping mission operating in Darfur, and is contributing to the United Nations for its peacekeeping force.
“I know that we're the largest donor to the peacekeeping operations. I can't tell you what amount would be required for this particular force,” McCormack said.
Emerging from a closed-door Security Council meeting at the United Nations June 12, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said council members are waiting for official clarification of Sudan's acceptance of troops.
"If this is an unconditional acceptance, this would be a positive step that we would welcome, but if it is conditional -- as we hear there will be only African troops involved and no non-Africans -- that would be unacceptable," said Khalilzad, the chief U.S. envoy to the United Nations.
The United States and other members of the council warned recently that if Sudan does not accept quickly the African Union-United Nations plan for the hybrid force, they will propose additional sanctions on Khartoum. Khalilzad said that policy has not changed.
Sanctions "are still very much under consideration," the ambassador said. "If we don't get an unconditional acceptance of the AU-U.N. concept on the hybrid force then ... we have to go with additional sanctions, tightening sanctions" to provide an incentive for the government to cooperate.
Khalilzad added that the United States and other council members are advocating a comprehensive approach to the situation in Darfur. "We understand the violence is not only from the government, but from the rebels. Therefore, all sides have a responsibility to cooperate with U.N. Security Council resolutions, to cooperate with U.N. humanitarian assistance, and to cooperate with the peacekeeping," he said.
A transcript of Khalilzad’s remarks to reporters is available on the Web site of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
For more information, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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