SUDAN: Annan urges expeditious deployment of a UN force in Darfur

May 10, 2006 -(IRIN) United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan pledged to speed up planning for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to the troubled Darfur region of western Sudan, comparing the crisis to those faced in Bosnia, Rwanda and Somalia.

"We must, and will, speed up our planning for the transition to a UN operation in Darfur - which was already requested by the Peace and Security Council of the AU [African Union] as long ago as 10 March - and authorised by the Security Council on 24 March," Annan told a special ministerial meeting of the Security Council.

Despite the signing on 5 May of a peace agreement between the government and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the largest of the three rebel groups involved in the three-year conflict, the situation in Darfur is far from resolved. Two smaller rebel groups have refused to sign, demanding more concessions from the Khartoum government.

The peace deal provides for the disarmament of the Darfur rebels as well as the Janjawid militia, who are allegedly backed by the Khartoum government and blamed for most of the atrocities against civilians in Darfur. Rebel groups, government troops and militia have wreaked havoc in the region since early 2003. The UN estimates that 3.6 million people - of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad - are affected by the conflict. More than 200,000 people have been killed as a result of violence.

"Helping to protect the people of Darfur and to implement the Abuja agreement will be one of the biggest tests this organisation has ever faced - perhaps the biggest since those in Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia in the early 1990s. But it is a challenge we cannot refuse. And, having accepted it, we cannot delay," the Secretary-General said.

A 7,000-strong AU force - hindered by limited resources and a weak mandate - is currently responsible for patrolling Darfur, an area the size of France. "AMIS [Africa Mission in Sudan] must be transformed into a larger and more mobile United Nations operation, better equipped and with a stronger mandate. We are now mobilising all our energies to make that happen," said Annan. "It is clear, from the work we have already done, that a follow-on United Nations force will have to be much bigger than the current AMIS force, and will need major logistical support from member states that are in a position to provide it."

The next step would be to send a technical assessment mission to Darfur, Annan said. The mission would consult with the Sudanese government and the other parties on what was required to implement the peace agreement. The Secretary-General said he had written to Sudanese President Umar el-Bashir to seek his support for the assessment.

Annan urged all parties in the conflict to respect an earlier ceasefire pact and appealed to rebel factions that had refused to sign the peace agreement to do so. "We must all do what we can to convince them to choose peace over conflict, for the sake of their people. If this tragedy continues, because of what they did - or failed to do - history will judge them severely," he said.

Annan also stressed the importance of raising funds for emergency relief in Darfur. "Without massive and immediate support, the humanitarian agencies will be unable to continue their work, which means that hundreds of thousands more will die from hunger, malnutrition and disease," he said. A pledging conference will be held, possibly in Brussels, in early June. "But I appeal to donors not to wait for that conference. They need to be very generous, starting right now."