A conciliatory decision was taken by the African Union (AU) on
Friday on the fate of its peacekeeping mission in Sudan's western
region of Darfur.
The Sudanese government immediately welcomed the decision
adopted by the AU Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) in a meeting
in Addis Ababa to extend its peacekeeping mission in Darfur until
Sept. 30 this year and to support in principle a UN takeover of the
peacekeeping mission.
Abu Zaid al-Hassan, Sudan's Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent
Representative in the AU, described the decision as " balanced",
adding that "it met most demands of Sudan."
He referred to the two main points satisfying the Sudanese side
particularly, one of which was the UN would not send any
peacekeeping forces to Darfur without an agreement of the Sudanese
government, and the other was the AU-PSC agreement of principle to
hand over the peacekeeping mission to the UN was not a final
decision.
The AU-PSC also called on the international society to exert its
influence to push the peace negotiations between the Sudanese
government and Darfur rebel movements forward, and urged the
parties involved in the conflict to be committed to the 2004
ceasefire accord.
However, by agreeing in principle on the UN takeover of the
Darfur mission after six months, the AU-PSC only postponed a final
showdown.
In January, the AU said it could not afford a 7,800-strong
African force which was deployed in Darfur in 2004, and suggested a
UN takeover of the mission.
The United States has been pressing the African Union, and Sudan
in particular, to accept the deployment of an international force
to contain the worsening security situation in Darfur.
But the Sudanese government dismissed the proposal as an
intervention in Sudan's internal affairs.
Rabia Abd al-Ati, adviser of the Sudanese Ministry of
Information and Communications and former Director General of the
Sudanese News Agency, said the AU-PSC decision was "expected and
unsurprising", which gave the parties an opportunity to review
their positions.
"The decision indicates the seriousness of Sudan's opposition to
the existence of foreign troops on its territories," the famous
political analyst told Xinhua.
Tens of thousands of Sudanese marched through Khartoum on
Wednesday, protesting the proposed U.N. takeover.
On the eve of the AU-PSC meeting, the Sudanese government
stressed that it would accept the deployment of international
forces in Darfur only after a peace agreement was signed between
the government and the Darfur rebel movements.
Commenting on the AU-PSC decision, Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim,
Spokesman of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, expressed his hope that
the peace agreement would be reached before Sept. 30, adding that
the decision kept the Darfur file in the AU's hand.
Clashes flared up in Darfur in February 2003 when local farmers
took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of
neglecting the barren area. Thousands of people have been killed
and more than a million displaced in the violence.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006 )
