Brussels, 09/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - Although the UN is expected to take over from the African Union in Darfur (western Sudan), which is currently in command of the AMIS II mission, the African Union will be keeping a central role in this possible strengthened peace keeping mission. However, it will still be necessary for negotiations in Abuja between all the parties in the conflict, the Sudanese government, the militias and rebel movements, to speed up and achieve a political solution that finally brings peace in this region, plagued by violence since 2003, which has left tens of thousands of deaths and displaced persons and which continues to expose civilians to insecurity and constant violence. This is the essential message the European Union, USA and UN sent out to the Sudanese authorities and UA on Wednesday in Brussels during high level diplomatic meetings between Javier Solana, CFSP High Representative, Alpha Oumar Konaré, President of the African Union Commission, Louis Michel, European Commissioner for development policy and humanitarian aid, Robert Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State for the US, Hedi Annabi, Deputy Secretary General of the UN for peace keeping operation and Ali Osman Taha, vice president of the Republic of Sudan. The seriousness of the humanitarian situation in this region is such that with the end of the AMIS II operation planned for 31 March, reflection of a gradual changeover to a UN mission is indispensable but without leaving the AU on the sidelines. The decision, however, whether to call for UN intervention is in the hands of the Sudanese government and the African Union is expected to speak on the subject on 10 March at a meeting of its peace and security committee at its headquarters in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. During meetings, the EU and USA were keen to pay homage to the African Union mission and were anxious to point out that the proposed reinforcements were not perceived as a sign of failure.
Addressing the press Javier Solana said, “I think we cannot maintain the situation in Darfur as it is”. He also stated that they needed to give the AU and President Konaré all the support it needed. He added that they ought to produce a road map to get the Abuja process moving and that they needed six to eight months before the UN could deploy its troops, concluding that keeping peace actually meant that peace existed. Alpha Oumar Konaré said that he was very pleased with the determination of their partners to continue supporting the African Union and its forces on the ground, as well as its support for the political process. He added that they wanted a partnership with the UN but also the leadership of Africa. Louis Michel stated that he was pleased that they had been able to trace the “contours for relaunching the Abuja Process”. He also declared that the road map had to be elaborated swiftly and should contain a “timetable for keeping promises that had not been kept in a process that had dragged on too long”. Particularly supportive of the concept of taking ownership of peace-keeping operations in Africa by Africa itself, the Commissioner congratulated the role of AMIS, which he described as a success. He said that he was convinced that with a good road map containing the promise of a strengthened African Union and good access for humanitarian workers, security would be possible. He pointed out that the Commission had already provided EUR 190 million and provided assurances that a road map would be available and accompanied by funding to help stabilise the area. Robert Zoellick was very pleased with the cooperation between the USA and EU and said that they very much appreciated the role of AMIS which had done a remarkable job but that the AU needed more help. He explained that maintaining security with 7000 men in a territory as big as France was not easy and that they hoped that the Sudanese government would not resist and would recognise that it was in its own interest to end the violence against its population. He also averred that the EU and US were working together to begin preparation of the UN mission in Sudan. That same evening Zoellick flew to Paris to discuss funding with the World Bank. Addressing the press, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, did not rule out his government accepting a UN mission on his territory to guarantee lasting peace, once a political settlement to the crisis had been reached.
In a press release, Oxfam International called on the international community to act urgently and not procrastinate on who should lead the mission, as the most urgent priority was now to protect civilians against daily threats of violence and harassment.