Sudan's government is uneasily waiting for a judgement to be
made by the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council on the
fate of the 7,800-strong African peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
It is still uncertain whether the council will reach an
agreement at a meeting on March 10 on a UN takeover of the
peacekeeping mission in the restive western region of the largest
African country. The proposal has been rejected repeatedly by the
Sudanese government.
Considering the proposed replacement of the underfunded AU
forces an intervention in its internal affairs, Sudan has won the
support of several African countries in the AU Peace and Security
Council to thwart the scheme.
Al-Taib Zain al-Abedin, a professor of the politics in the
Khartoum University, explained that the Sudanese government
insisted on the position for three fears, the first of which was an
international existence in Darfur could weaken the government's
control in the region and its capability to curb rebel
violence.
The second fear was that the international forces would come
with authorization of safeguarding civilians, which could diminish
the government's sovereignty and deprive it of one of its original
rights, the professor said, adding that the third fear was that the
international forces could be given the power to hunt down war
criminals, whom the government has refused to hand over to the
international court in the Hague.
However, al-Abedin could not rule out the possibility of the AU
yielding to pressure from the United States and other western
countries to request the UN takeover of the peacekeeping
operation.
But the move to deploy a UN peacekeeping force met resistance in
the AU as Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa pressed
for a continuous AU role in Darfur.
Fathi Khalil, chief of Sudan's Bar Association, stressed the
necessity for the AU and the UN to take his country's position into
consideration before making any decision on Darfur, since the
peacekeeping forces' deployment had to be agreed upon, in the first
place, by the Sudanese government.
"The existence of international forces in Darfur could be
regarded by the Sudanese people as a kind of occupation which could
lead to their resistance of any form," Khalil added.
The meeting of the foreign ministers of the AU Peace and
Security Council, which had been slated for the beginning of this
month, was postponed to March 10 due to extended consultations.
The AU sent some 7,800-strong forces, including troops and
observers, to Darfur after the Sudanese government and two main
rebel groups signed a ceasefire agreement in April 2004.
In January, the AU said it could not afford maintaining its
peacekeeping mission in Darfur and agreed in principle to a UN
takeover of the mission.
Sudan has threatened to withdraw from the AU if the pan-African
bloc made the decision to quit Darfur.
"We will resist this attempt and respond strongly to it even if
that leads to the withdrawal from the AU and the review of Sudan's
membership in the African organization," spokesman of the Sudanese
Ministry for Foreign Affairs Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim told Xinhua on
Saturday.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over a million
displaced since rebel groups took arms in early 2003, accusing the
government of neglecting the arid region.
(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)
