The Sudanese government announced on Wednesday its approval of
UN Security Council Resolution 1769 on a hybrid peacekeeping
operation to be jointly conducted by the Uniterd Nations (UN) and
the African Union (AU) in the country's western region of
Darfur.
Foreign Minister Lam Akol made the acceptance of a 26,000-strong
UN-AU hybrid force for Darfur at a press conference on Wednesday, a
day after the UN Security Council unanimously voted to adopt the
resolution.
"We announce our acceptance of the resolution," Akol told the
journalists, adding the Sudanese government would cooperate with
the UN and AU for the implementation of the Resolution 1769.
The newly approved resolution reaffirms a "strong commitment" to
the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of
Sudan, and to the cause of peace.
It also expresses UN's determination to work with the Sudanese
government to assist in tackling the various problems in
Darfur.
Introducing Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the resolution limits
the authorization of using power in Darfur to the peacekeeping
force's self-defense, protecting humanitarian workers and
civilians, supporting the implementation of the Darfur Peace
Agreement (DPA) and preventing armed attacks.
The resolution stressed, meanwhile, that the mandate of the
peacekeeping force could be done "without prejudice to the
responsibility of the Government of Sudan".
Akol said that his government approved the resolution because it
had responded to most of its concerns and reservations, though some
concerns of his government had not been totally dispelled by the
resolution.
"This resolution came after lengthened consultations and
intensive negotiations which had lasted for more than one month,"
said the foreign minister, appreciating the firm positions of
Russia, South Africa, Congo, Indonesia, Qatar, Ghana and China,
which had led to the modifications of the original draft submitted
by Britain and France.
The UN Security Council authorized on Tuesday up to 26,000
troops and police for Darfur in an effort to protect civilians and
quell violence in the restive western Sudanese region.
The resolution calls on member states to finalize their
contributions to the new force, called UNAMID or UN-AU Mission in
Darfur, within 30 days.
UNAMID, which shall incorporate the 7,800 AU peacekeeping troops
now in Darfur, will draw most of its new staff from the African
countries.
Earlier on July 21-23, Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir made a
rare three-day tour to Darfur, highlighting the importance of
economic and social development in the region in a bid to solve the
Darfur crisis.
The president's Darfur tour affirmed that security and stability
had prevailed in most parts of the region, strengthening the
confidence of the Sudanese people in the peace process, said the
official SUNA news agency.
Coincidently, the AU and the UN special envoys for Darfur, Salim
Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson, sent invitations to leaders of Darfur
rebel movements, which have failed to sign a peace agreement with
the government, to attend a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania on Aug.
3-5.
The meeting was endorsed by the Second International Meeting on
Darfur, which was held in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on July
15-16 under the co-chairmanship of the AU and UN special
envoys.
The objective of the Arusha meeting is to take stock of the
progress made in the Road-map sponsored by the UN and the AU for
the solution of the Darfur crisis.
A joint delegation of the UN and AU missions in Sudan left
Khartoum on Wednesday for Arusha to take part in the meeting.
Nour Eddin al-Mazeni, the spokesman of the AU Mission in Sudan,
hoped that the Arusha meeting would come up with positive results
leading to the unification of the non-signatories of the DPA,
paving the way for the resumption of the peace negotiations.
The DPA was signed by the Sudanese government and a main former
rebel faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) in May
2006.
Most of the Darfur rebel groups, including a branch of the SLM
and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have refused to sign
the DPA, claiming that it was unfair.
(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2007)
