Agence France-Presse,
UNITED NATIONS: Western nations on Tuesday circulated a toned-down resolution which mandates the speedy deployment of a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur and drops the threat of sanctions.
Heeding calls from African council members for a milder text that would be more palatable to Khartoum, the trio of Britain, France and the United States dropped an earlier threat of unspecified sanctions against Sudanese parties that fail to fulfill their commitments or cooperate fully with the resolution.
Following talks with their African colleagues, the Western sponsors voiced confidence that they now had the basis of a text that could attract broad support.
“We changed the text quite considerably. The tonality has changed … I think there is less threatening language in there. It's more of a conciliatory text,” said Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry.
“I hope we'll get to rapid closure,” Jones Parry said, expressing hope that it could be adopted by the end of the month.
But Sudan's UN envoy Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohammad said he still had reservations about many parts of the text “which are inconsistent with the terms of reference or the situation as it prevails (in Darfur).”
He specifically objected to some aspects of the force's mandate.
Council experts were finetuning the text Tuesday ahead of formal negotiations scheduled for Wednesday.
“We have improved the text … We have taken into account Sudanese concerns,” France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said. “What we are looking at is to have very large support and if possible consensus.”
The draft, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, mandates the establishment “for an initial period of 12 months” of a joint AU-UN force to take over peacekeeping from 7,000 underfunded and equipped AU troops that have failed to stem four years of bloodshed in the Sudanese western region.
It says the proposed force, known as UNAMID, shall “consist of up to 19,555 military personnel and an appropriate civilian component including up to 3,772 police personnel and 19 formed police units comprising up to 140 personnel each.”
One paragraph of the draft invokes Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to state that UNAMID “is authorized to use all necessary means, in the areas of deployment of its forces … prevent attacks and threats against civilians.”
Chapter Seven is used in cases of threats to international peace and security.
UNAMID, which is not expected to be on the ground before early next year, would also be able to use force to protect its personnel, ensure security and freedom of movement for them, as well as for humanitarian workers, and prevent any attempt to disrupt implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA).
The draft stresses that there can be no military solution to the Darfur conflict and urges Khartoum and the rebel groups to join talks under AU-UN mediation.
It “strongly condemns the continued violations of the DPA and … demands that all parties meet their existing obligations.”
An August 3-5 meeting organized jointly by the African Union and the United Nations in Arusha, Tanzania, is to lay the groundwork with the non-signatory rebels for renewed negotiations with the Sudanese government.
Khartoum signed the DPA with Darfur rebels in Nigeria more than a year ago but only one of three negotiating rebel factions endorsed the deal.
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir gave his unconditional approval of the deployment of UNAMID in a June 17 meeting with a UN Security Council delegation in Khartoum.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when an ethnic minority rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which then enlisted the Janjaweed militia group to help crush the rebellion.
According to UN estimates, at least 200,000 people have died from the combined effect of war and famine since the conflict started in February 2003. Other sources give a much higher toll, but Khartoum disputes the figures.
