SUDAN:The United Nations and the African Union have drawn up plans for a peacekeeping force for Darfur of more than 23,000 troops, police and other personnel to protect civilians and be able to use force to deter violence.
The so-called AU/UN "hybrid" force has still to be approved by the UN Security Council and the AU's Peace and Security Committee and then submitted to the Sudanese government.
US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said that the security council could adopt a statement very quickly on the 40-page plan. "I think this is a positive development," he said. "Now the ball will be in Sudan's court."
Sudan has not rejected the force but senior officials have said the number of troops is too large and that the UN should finance and augment the AU force of 7,000 with logistics, command and control functions, transport and financing.
Khartoum's UN ambassador, Abdelmahmood Abdelhaleem yesterday chided the UN for blaming Khartoum for the delay in admitting peacekeepers when its own plans had not yet been presented. But he said his government would study the plan as soon as possible.
The extensive plan outlines difficulties in operating in the arid and impoverished Darfur region in western Sudan, where Khartoum's help in providing land and water for barracks was often lacking, even for the small UN advance contingents now being deployed.
One of the main tasks is to provide security to the tens of thousands of refugees living in the camps there and to patrol humanitarian supply routes and "where necessary escort humanitarian convoys", which have been attacked regularly by armed groups and militias.
"The harsh terrain and lack of road infrastructure, particularly during the rainy season, would require a force equipped with high-mobility ground vehicles and a strong air component," the report said. "The hybrid military force must be capable and ready to deter violence, including in a pre-emptive manner," it added.
The proposals have two options for troops, one with 19,500, composed of 18 infantry battalions, and another with 17,605, with 15 infantry battalions. Police would include 3,772 officers and perhaps another 2,500 policemen to establish and train local police to work in the refugee camps. - (Reuters)