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Darfur: AU troops gets funding
29/03/2006 08:41 - (SA)
Khartoum - Arab leaders reached a deal on Tuesday to provide funding for cash-strapped African Union troops in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur, said officials at the summit.
The move came after Sudan pressed fellow members of the Arab League to reject plans for the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers to Darfur, where war, disease and famine had cost up to 300 000 lives in three years.
Announcing a deal after a closed-door session at the summit, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Arab leaders had also agreed to strengthen the AU force by providing troops from Arab states.
The move came after Sudan appealed for the 22-member Arab League to help strengthen the AU force in a bid to stop the plans by the UN security council to send its own peacekeepers.
Political, economic marginalisation
War broke out in Darfur in February 2003 after rebel groups revolted against what they said was the political and economic marginalisation of the region's black African ethnic groups by the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum.
The government responded by unleashing the Janjaweed militia, a force of horse-mounted gunmen, which had been blamed for many atrocities including systemic rape and the burning of villages.
The conflict in Darfur and a subsequent humanitarian crisis had also left an estimated 2.4 million displaced, but Sudan had long been opposed to a wider international role in the region.
Palestinian foreign minister Nasser al-Qidwa confirmed that an agreement had been reached to "finance the AU troops for a period of six months" or until the end of its mission, which was renewed in March.
AU troops may get $150m
He said Arab leaders had called on Arab African countries to send more troops to join the AU force, but had not yet made a decision.
Arab League chief Amr Mussa confirmed an agreement on funding, but declined to disclose the total amount that would be provided by Arab countries.
However, a diplomat close to the talks said an aid package of some $150m was being discussed.
The move followed a vote in the UN security council on Friday to speed up plans to deploy peacekeepers to replace the AU mission.
7 000-strong AU force deployed
But, Sudanese foreign minister Lam Akol had demanded Arab funding for the AU mission to block "attempts to hand over its tasks to international forces".
The 7 000-strong AU force was first deployed in 2004 and was being largely financed by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The International Criminal Court had told the security council that it had enough evidence of killing, rape and destruction in the war-ravaged region to warrant bringing suspects to trial.
But, the Sudanese government established its own special court in June to try Darfur criminals and had vehemently maintained its right to handle the case domestically.
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