Sudan: UN officials meet with Government on operations of Darfur peacekeepers

Officials of the new United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the Government of Sudan began negotiations in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, today to regulate deployment and operations of the force that is seeking to bring peace to the strife-torn Darfur region.

The so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is among the unresolved issues that depend on the outcome of discussions with the Sudanese Government. Others include the final confirmation of the composition of the force, and clearance to function 24 hours a day.

Currently, UNAMID, which took over from an African Union (AU) mission on 31 December, has only 9,000 troops out of its mandated strength of 26,000, and it lacks essential logistics and equipment, including helicopters. Top UN officials have repeatedly called on Member States to speed up delivery of vital units and assets.

Today’s talks coincided with the presence in Khartoum of the UN and AU Special Envoys for Darfur, Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, who arrived yesterday on a weeklong mission to infuse new momentum into efforts to bring peace to Darfur, where over 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes since fighting began in 2003 between Government forces and rebel groups.

The two envoys plan to meet with officials from the Government and rebel movements to assess the parties’ commitment to the political process and to urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to cease hostilities.

Mr. Eliasson noted that conditions for a political settlement were not as conducive as they were last summer. “The military activities involving the JEM (the rebel Justice and Equality Movement) and the Government, Chad and Sudan are disturbing and of course, affect the climate that we want for further talks,” he told UN radio in an interview.

“So it is an uphill battle but we have to continue because there is no lasting solution to the Darfur problem without a political process,” he added. “We hope that they will realize in their own enlightened self-interest that a political process is necessary. The continued fighting will lead nowhere, maybe somewhere in the short run but definitely nowhere in the long run.”

Meanwhile, a UNAMID supply convoy that was attacked by elements of the Sudanese army last week returned to its base at El Fasher in Western Darfur yesterday after bringing food and fuel to posts in Southern Darfur. UNAMID Deputy Force Commander General Emmanuel Karenzi commended the 87-member strong convoy for successfully accomplishing their assignment despite the challenges.

The Security Council on Friday condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms” and voiced its readiness to act against any party impeding UNAMID’s deployment.