Darfur: US ready to help
2006-01-16 11:50
Monrovia - US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice pledged on Monday full US support in efforts to shore up security in Sudan's bloodstained Darfur region but stayed quiet on the prospect of sending US troops.
Rice reiterated Washington's backing for a UN proposal to take over peacekeeping chores in Darfur from a cash-strapped African Union force and said perhaps Nato could expand on its current logistical help.
She said the international community had to respond to a deteriorating situation in what officials have called one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, "but the US will be very involved in that".
Yet speaking to reporters en route to Liberia for the inauguration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president, Rice sidestepped a question about the deployment of US troops as part of a beefed-up international force for Darfur.
"I think that the Africans have always wanted this to be an African mission," she said.
"Hopefully there are enough African forces that can contribute but I think we'll just need to talk to our allies and see what might be needed."
The chief US diplomat said the 7 000-strong AU force was doing a good job in trying to curb bloodshed in Sudan's western region but faces continuing violence and mounting tensions on the border with Chad.
Sudan authorities 'should have no veto power'
"It is probably pretty close to the limits of what it can do in its current size and configuration and there are issues of how to sustain it," Rice said.
"That's why we favour a UN mission which has a quality of sustainability."
Sudan has reacted coolly to the proposed UN peacekeepers in Darfur, where three years of fighting between rebels and Khartoum forces and their militia allies have left up to 300 000 people dead and 2.4 million displaced.
But Rice made it clear that the Sudan authorities, whom Washington has accused of genocide in Darfur, should have no veto power over the configuration of peacekeeping operations.
"I think the Khartoum government should be co-operative," she said. "They have a problem in Darfur and the international community expects them to contribute to solving it and also expects them to allow the international community to contribute to solving it."
Rice said a call would likely go out "pretty soon" for countries willing to contribute more to Darfur peacekeeping efforts and said discussions would be held on deepening Nato's role, perhaps in planning.
She said a UN mission would have more money as well as forces at its disposal but did not say what the United States was ready to commit in terms of financial support.