Sudan supports Darfur resolution

August 02, 2007|Mohamed Osman and Alfred de Monstesquiou, Associated Press

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Sudan yesterday endorsed a UN resolution to send 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, raising hopes for a force that could for the first time provide real protection to civilians in one of the world's most embattled regions.

If fully deployed, the troops would be the United Nations' largest peacekeeping operation and, under the UN resolution passed Tuesday, would be under orders to prevent attacks against civilians.

Attack helicopters expected to be sent in would give the troops a major edge in moving quickly across the large territory in central Africa -- about the size of France -- to stop attacks by Arab janjaweed militias on villages. An African Union force of 7,000 troops on the ground has been too small and too poorly equipped to stop the bloodshed.

President Omar al-Bashir had resisted for months a push to send UN peacekeepers. But Sudan agreed in June to a compromise deal for the African Union to deploy jointly with the UN in a hybrid force to end the violence.

Acceptance of the new mission marked a major turnaround for Khartoum. Al-Bashir said last year he viewed UN blue helmets as a neocolonial force and would personally lead the resistance against them if they deployed. "The Sudanese government is committed to implementing its part of the resolution," Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told reporters yesterday.

"This is the first time a country involved in the resolution takes part in the consultations," Akol said. But Sudan has a long history of obstructing any international presence in Darfur, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned yesterday the United States would watch out for any Sudanese backtracking.

"We are expecting the Sudanese government to live up to the commitments it is making," she said, speaking during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

The UN said the force, called UNAMID, will have "a predominantly African character," as Sudan demanded. African troops already in Darfur will stay there.

France, Denmark, and Indonesia offered to contribute to the force. Nigeria, which has about 2,000 troops already in Darfur, said it is ready to send an additional battalion, about 700 solders.