Security Council extends life of UN mission in Sudan by another week

The Security Council voted today to extend the mandate of the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) by a week – the second time it has done so this month – while its members discuss plans to set up a peacekeeping mission in the south of the country and outline measures to encourage peace in the war-torn Darfur region in the west.

The Council’s 15 members unanimously adopted a resolution that maintains UNAMIS until 24 March, after its mandate had been originally due to expire today. Last Thursday the mandate was also extended by a week.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed the creation of a peacekeeping force comprised of at least 10,000 military personnel in southern Sudan to help the vast region stabilize after the Sudanese Government and local rebel forces signed a peace agreement in January ending their 21-year civil war.

The new mission – which would replace UNAMIS – is projected to cost more than $1 billion to establish and run during its first 12 months of operation.

Council members are also still debating what measures should be contained in a resolution on the situation in Darfur, where many tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 2 million others displaced from their homes since rebels took up arms against Government forces, later backed by local militias, in early 2003.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan Jan Pronk is travelling to Luxembourg to hold talks with European Union defence ministers about mobilizing support for the African Union’s (AU) ceasefire monitoring force in Darfur and for the upcoming UN peacekeeping mission.

A team led by the AU has arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum after completing an in-field assessment of peacekeeping requirements in Darfur. The team met Mr. Pronk before he left for Luxembourg and they will now head to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to issue their report.