New Darfur peacekeeping force approved

The UN Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur to try to help end the bloodshed in the Sudanese region.

The force – the first joint peacekeeping operation by the African Union and the United Nations – will replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force now in Darfur no later than December 31.

While the council urged speedy deployment, the bulk of the force is not expected to be on the ground until next year, and the ultimate troop strength depends on the willingness of UN member states to contribute troops, police, logistics and sophisticated military hardware.

If deployed fully, it will be the largest peacekeeping operation in the world.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday’s “historic and unprecedented resolution” will send “a clear and powerful signal” of the UN’s commitment “to improve the lives of the people of the region and close this tragic chapter in Sudan’s history”.

But Ban, who has made Darfur a top priority since taking over as UN chief on January 1, stressed that beefing up the peacekeeping force must be accompanied by a boost in efforts to get all combatants to the peace table and end the conflict which has killed more than 200,000 people and uprooted 2.5 million.

The secretary-general said it is crucial that a meeting of the parties in Arusha, Tanzania, later this week, organised by the top UN and AU political envoys “yield positive results so as to pave the way for negotiations and, ultimately, a peace agreement”.

The resolution’s approval by a 15-0 vote culminated weeks of negotiations between its main sponsors, Britain and France, and the Sudanese government and its key backers including China, which imports two-thirds of Sudan’s oil.

The text was watered down several times to remove the threat of sanctions which Sudan and China opposed, authorisation for the new force to seize or collect arms, and language which Sudan’s UN ambassador called “ugly” and “awful”.

The Sudanese envoy, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, told reporters the government would discuss the resolution, but said it “contained many positive elements, and also it went to considerable extent to satisfy our concerns”.

It was “the product of close cooperation between the United Nations, the African Union and the Sudan government” and “demonstrates that we have to work together in partnership,” he said.

China’s UN Ambassador Wang Guangya, the current council president, expressed hope that the resolution will spur further international efforts “to solve the issue of Darfur”.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned that if Sudan doesn’t comply with the resolution “the United States will move for the swift adoption of unilateral and multilateral measures”.

“Now Sudan faces a choice. Sudan can choose the path of cooperation or defiance. ... All eyes are upon Sudan, and we look to its government to do the right thing and pursue the path of peace,” he said.

The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they consider decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government. Sudan’s government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed – a charge it denies.

The poorly equipped and underfunded African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting, and neither has the Darfur Peace Agreement, signed a year ago by the government and one rebel group.

Other rebel factions called the deal insufficient, and fighting has continued.

The UN and Western governments have pressed Sudan since November to accept a three-stage UN plan for a joint force.

After stalling for months, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed in April to a “heavy support package” to strengthen the AU force, including 3,000 UN troops, police and civilian personnel along with aircraft and other equipment. The resolution calls for its speedy deployment.

The resolution authorises the much larger 26,000-strong hybrid force, which will be called UNAMID and have “a predominantly African character”, as Sudan demanded.

The force will include up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, a civilian component including up to 3,772 international police, and 19 special police units with up to 2,660 officers.

The UN will have overall command of the force but day-to-day operations will be the responsibility of the force commander, General Martin Agwai of Nigeria.

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno said the UN hopes to have the hybrid force’s headquarters and command and control structures in place by October, “which is key to strengthening the mission”.

The resolution has one section under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which deals with threats to peace and security and can be militarily enforced.

It authorises UNAMID to use force to protect and ensure freedom of movement for its own personnel and humanitarian workers, and to prevent armed attacks and protect civilians in order to support implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement “without prejudice to the responsibility of the government of Sudan”.

Guehenno said the big difference in the hybrid force will be its size and mobility because it will have military transport helicopters and combat helicopters.

“If something happens somewhere in Darfur, there’s a capacity to react quickly and decisively, and that’s a big difference in capacity, and that’s going to be one of our top priorities in deploying the mission,” he said.

Britain’s UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called the AU-UN force “an unprecedented undertaking in scale, complexity and importance”.

He said the focus must now be on deploying “a large, robust, effective and coherent” force, ensuring delivery of humanitarian aid to help the four million people who depend on it, and reaching a political settlement.