Print

Mail

wiki links

UN holds talks on Darfur deployment

UN chief Ban Ki-moon opened high-level talks yesterday with the African Union (AU) on Darfur that could clear the way for deploying a sizable UN force in the strife-torn Sudanese region.

Ban was to hold two days of talks with AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, to nail down a tentative deal reached with Khartoum to send about 2,300 UN troops to Darfur to reinforce 7,000 under-equipped AU troops.

The two diplomats were also to focus on the final phase of the UN's plan expected to culminate in the deployment of a 20,000-strong joint UN-AU force in Darfur.

UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said on Friday that Ban and Konare would brief the UN Security Council on their deliberations yesterday afternoon.

"This will be an important opportunity to generate additional momentum to the peace process," she said.

Ban and Konare "will consider how best to give new impetus to the political process and the efforts of the special envoys wich are indispensable for the attainment of a lasting peace in Darfur," she added.

Tough task

Also yesterday, the UN special envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, and his AU counterpart, Selim Ahmad Selim, who are tasked with reviving and broadening the wobbly peace agreement reached between Khartoum and Darfur rebels last May, were to brief the Security Council on the political track of the UN settlement plan.

The upcoming UN consultations coincide with a flurry of international diplomatic activity to end the festering humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where four years of ethnic strife have resulted in at least 200,000 deaths and displaced more than 2 million people, according to UN figures.

Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said yesterday in Khartoum that Sudan must improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur, stop harassing aid workers and let UN peacekeepers deploy if it wants to upgrade relations with the US.

Despite talks he described as positive with the Sudanese government, John Negroponte voiced concern over the situation in Darfur as he ended his three-day visit to the country. He said the number of refugees in the wartorn western Sudan region was increasing and that the government still hinders international efforts to help them.

`Not encouraging'

"When it comes to humanitarian access, the government of Sudan's record is not encouraging," Negroponte said before heading to Chad for the next leg of a four-day regional tour that will also bring him to Libya to push for the UN deployment in Darfur.

"The denial of visas, the harassment of aid workers and other measures have created the impression that the government of Sudan is engaged in a deliberate campaign of intimidation," he said.

Negroponte's address came as the Saudi news agency reported that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had called the king of Saudi Arabia to announce he had signed a joint agreement with the UN and the AU that defines their respective roles in Darfur.

The UN did not immediately confirm the report and Negroponte avoided to comment on it during his press conference.
This story has been viewed 1424 times.