Sudan: Security Council explores transition from African Union to UN mission in Darfur

With the African Union’s peacekeeping force in western Sudan’s Darfur region funded only until March, the Security Council today commended the mission for its successful deployment and asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan draw up a range of contingency plans for a possible transition of operations to the United Nations.

In a statement on behalf of the Council, its President for February, Ambassador John Bolton of the United States, noted that the AU has expressed its support for the changeover.

The options, worked out jointly with the African Union (AU) in consultation with the Security Council and the parties to Sudan’s peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, should make maximum use of the existing resources of the AU force, known as AMIS, and the UN Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), currently deployed to monitor a peace agreement between rebels and the Government in the southern part of the country, the statement said.

“The Security Council emphasizes the importance of maintaining strong support for AMIS until any eventual transition is completed,” Mr. Bolton said.

The range of options should be based on a readiness to review and adjust the current structure of UNMIS and an assessment of the essential tasks to be carried out in southern Sudan and Darfur to maximize resources when the AU is ready for the transition, the President said.

Stressing the importance of successfully concluding the Abuja peace talks, the Council called on all parties to the Darfur conflict to negotiate in good faith in order to reach a peace accord as soon as possible and to end violence and atrocities now prevailing in the region. It also demanded that the parties cooperate fully with AMIS and fulfil all their obligations under existing agreements.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Mr. Bolton said the Council statement authorized the UN Secretariat to invite indications of interest from possible mission contributors.

In response to questions, he said: “A lot of this involves close consultations with the AU and as their decision-making process evolves, ours will evolve as well.”