UN to pull staff from Darfur
2008-07-15 11:04
Khartoum - The United Nations scrambled to airlift non-essential staff from Darfur on Tuesday as supporters of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir planned protests to denounce the world court prosecutor's call for him to be arrested for alleged war crimes.
Fears of violent reprisals were mounting since the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor on Monday sought an arrest warrant against Beshir on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
The African Union-UN peacekeeping mission said it would fly out non-essential staff to Ethiopia and Uganda, despite assurances from Sudan to protect peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.
"It's not an evacuation. We're temporarily relocating staff, some non-essential staff. This will probably begin today," said Josephine Guerrero, spokesperson in Darfur for the UN-led peacekeeping mission.
"UNAMID is not pulling out. All the forces are going to be on the ground and humanitarian operations are continuing," she added, referring to the UN-AU military and police force, only a third of which had deployed.
Evacuations 'unnecessary'
Officials in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where the UN-led mission was based, said about 200 staff would be flown out on Tuesday and that further "relocations" would depend on security assessments.
Staff could return within days or weeks if the mission downgraded its security alert. Sudan criticised the evacuations as unnecessary.
"This is very unfortunate - that they are doing this despite our assurances many times that they are going to be protected, to enable them to do their daily business," foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq said.
"It is their decision and we do not interfere in that, but it is against our wishes certainly."
Last Tuesday, seven UNAMID peacekeepers were killed and 22 others wounded after an ambush by heavily armed militia in North Darfur.
Crimes against humanity
It was deadliest in a series of attacks in the six months since the UN assumed command of peacekeeping in the region to replace an ill-equipped and under-manned AU force.
UN officials fingered Arab militias, of the kind supported by the Khartoum government, for orchestrating the attack.
Khartoum braced for angry protests against the ICC move, after Beshir's National Congress Party announced it would organise a demonstration from 13:00.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Beshir "personally instructed" his forces to annihilate three ethnic groups in the western Sudanese region.
The prosecutor had requested a warrant on 10 counts, three of them for genocide, in what would be the first such move by the court against a sitting head of state.
Charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity included allegations of murder, torture, attacks against civilians and pillaging.
Three ICC judges would examine the application to decide whether there were sufficient grounds for issuing a warrant.