US: Sudan needs global force

2006-06-23 08:46

Washington - The United States plans to keep pressing for an international force in Sudan's war-torn Darfur province, despite fierce opposition from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Experts said that two years after dubbing the government repression in Darfur as "genocide", and six weeks after the signing of the Abuja peace accord, the US had not yet managed to get the international community to budge, while violence raged on.

Adam Ereli of the state department said: "I think our diplomacy is going to be consistent.

"It's based on a strong and unified international consensus, frankly, that the current peacekeeping mission in Darfur must be transitioned to a United Nations force."

On Tuesday, Bashir rejected the deployment of an international force for Darfur, declaring that his country would not be "recolonised".

Peace accord

Bashir said: "The right question should be: Why should international forces come into Darfur; what are the reasons for such an intervention?

"I swear that there will not be any international military intervention in Darfur as long as I am in power."

Up to now, Bashir had appeared to demonstrate a willingness to discuss the issue, particularly since the May 05 signing of a peace accord in Abuja with representatives from the main rebel group in Darfur.

The Abuja accord emerged after nearly two years of negotiations under the aegis of the African Union (AU) and other international organisations.

Deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick, the US point man on Sudan, suggested in April that there was little way to ram foreign Darfur peacekeepers down Khartoum's throat.

Zoellick said: "You either get the approval of the government, as the government did for the AU force and the Nato support, or you invade, and that's a very big, serious challenge."

Fighting claims 300 000 people

Sudan, Africa's largest country, had been wracked by near-constant conflict since it was granted independence by Britain 50 years ago.

Since civil war broke out in Darfur in February 2003, the combined effect of fighting and a dire humanitarian crisis had left up to 300 000 people dead and more than two million displaced.

Stephen Morrison of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said: "The UN option is the only option." Morrison predicted that the US would request a meeting of the UN security council on Sudan.

The expert said Washington had considerable support for deploying a UN force to the region, including that of UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU, the European Union and Nato.

Morrison said: "The Sudanese are taking advantage of certain factors. They are able to draw support from within the Arab League, they are able to play their friendship with the Chinese and the Russians in the security council.

"They are able to play off the fallout of the war in Iraq and they are advantaged by the fact that AU is divided and is intimidated."

- AFP