A large and complex peacekeeping operation planned for Darfur will launch on time and could, within mere months, improve the security situation in the war-torn region of western Sudan, the mission head said.
Rodolphe Adada, chief of the UN and African Union (AU) joint mission to Darfur (UNAMID), said contributing nations have already committed more than the 26,000 required troops for the force, and he expects the peacekeepers to deploy next month.
"That won't mean we'll have all the elements of the force on the ground, but we'll be operational," he said on Sunday.
The joint mission will take over from an AU force of 7,000 in Darfur and Adada said he expected to begin operating with some 10,000 troops, including the African contingents already in place.
He said UNAMID would meet the deadline set by the UN Security Council to replace the AU by Dec. 31.
"Hopefully, we'll be in full gear by March," Adada said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited Darfur last week to press for an end to the conflict, has said that UNAMID faces "enormously complex" logistical challenges. And some observers are skeptical such a large force will manage to deploy on time.
Darfur civilians have grown increasingly frustrated with the AU's lack of protection since it initially came in June 2004. They hope the new, hybrid UN-AU force's ability to secure refugee camps and towns will be a key factor to bring back stability.
One of the main weaknesses of the AU's current force is a mandate more focused on monitoring violence than preventing it. Adada said UNAMID's rules of engagement, under which troops are allowed to shoot, will provide for stronger protection.
The resolution that created UNAMID includes some clauses under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter -- which allows for the strongest use of force -- and UN diplomats say the mission's rules of engagement should be signed on Sept. 21 when the UN Assembly General gathers.
The deployment will come as a new peace conference between Darfur rebel groups and the Sudanese government launches on Oct. 27 in Libya. At least one leading rebel chief, Abdel Wahid Elnur, has said he would refuse to take part in peace negotiations before UN peacekeepers are fully in place.
The previous peace deal, signed in May last year between one rebel group and the Sudanese central government, is viewed as largely ineffective at reducing violence in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died since fighting began four years ago.
Adada said 6,000 police and troops would immediately focus on pacifying Darfur's refugee camps, where more than one-third of the population now live.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS