Ban, al-Beshir hold talks
2007-09-06 15:33
Khartoum - United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has held talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Thursday to win his support for a rapid deployment of a 26 000-strong new peacekeeping force in Darfur, a region wracked by four years of war and human suffering.
Ban - who had admitted that the international community had failed to do enough to end the crises in Sudan - said his visit had "made my resolve stronger and firmer to work for peace and security in Darfur and in Sudan".
His meeting with Beshir followed months of tortuous negotiations with Khartoum, which disputed involvement both in the killings in Darfur and the death toll.
Beshir insisted that most of the UN-African Unity force of 26 000 personnel, whose deployment was authorised by the security council in July, must be drawn from African countries.
200 000 people killed in Darfur
It would replace an African Union observation mission whose lack of finance, equipment and troops - 5 915 men out of the 7 000 authorised - was inadequate to protect civilians in an area the size of France.
According to UN estimates, at least 200 000 people in Darfur had been killed and two million displaced. Khartoum said only 9 000 people had died in the revolt, which broke out in February 2003.
Ban said: "We are now on a good track on deploying the hybrid peacekeepers. In fact, we have received more than we are actually in need of, except in those special areas like transportation and other technical areas."
But in apparent acknowledgement of remaining difficulties, he said: "There has to be a peace to maintain."
Ban 'shocked, humbled'
Ban's representative in Sudan, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, said that so far the UN roadmap for deploying the troops had been respected, with initial steps achieved to put in place the peacekeepers' command structure. This should be completed in October.
Zerihoun said: "But as for deploying the troops on the ground, that's a long way off", indicating that the first contingent - probably Chinese - could arrive at the beginning of next year.
Complete deployment was not expected before mid-2008.
On his visit to Darfur, the UN secretary general witnessed firsthand the plight of those displaced by the conflict, which had been labelled genocidal by Washington.
He said: "I was so shocked and humbled when I visited the IDP (internally displaced people) camp."
The 2003 uprising was launched by ethnic minority rebels and drew a scorched earth response from the Sudanese military and allied militias.
Ban said: "For too long the international community has stood by, as seemingly helpless witnesses. That is now changing."