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President Beshir has consistently rejected a UN deployment in Darfur. (Reuters) |
KHARTOUM — Khartoum has asked African Union peacekeepers to leave Darfur by the end of the month amid reports that government troops have already started massing in some parts of the troubled province in preparation for full deployment.
"The African Union has already stated that it could not continue in Darfur so, if it is unable to pursue its assignment beyond September 30, then they have to leave before this date," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday, September 4.
"At the same time, they have no right to transfer this assignment to the United Nations or any other party. This right rests with the government of Sudan," he averred.
The Sudanese government had already rejected a UN Security Council resolution passed on Thursday, August 31, which calls for the deployment of more than 20,000 UN peacekeepers to take over from the poorly trained and equipped 7,000-strong AU contingent.
Acting under Chapter Seven of the UN charter, the new resolution allows the troops to "use all necessary means" within its capabilities to protect UN personnel and facilities and prevent attacks and threats against civilians."
It, however, links the deployment of UN troops to the consent of the Khartoum government.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Beshir has consistently rejected the deployment of international troops in Darfur, accusing Western governments of hatching up colonial schemes to plunder Sunday's resources.
Vice President Ali Osman Taha warned last week that the government would resist any attempt to dispatch foreign troops without its consent.
Deployment
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Sudanese demonstrate in support of the government. (Reuters)
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Government troops have already started massing in some parts of Darfur, according to AFP.
Reinforcements have already been sent to North Darfur, where renewed fighting broke out over the past week.
Ibrahim reaffirmed determination to proceed with its plan to implement the Darfur agreement hammered out between the government and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army on May 5 to end the three-year conflict.
"This plan has already been lodged with the UN Secretary General (Kofi Annan) but it has not been well considered," he noted.
The Sudanese plan provides for the deployment of some 10,000 government troops in Darfur.
The plan was rejected by the United States and angered rebel groups.
Sudanese government troops "aren't considered neutral," Jendayi Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and top Africa envoy, argued last week.
Meanwhile, AU officials reported renewed fighting that threatened to plunge the region back into chaos, four months after a fragile peace agreement was signed with the main rebel group there.
"Reports reaching here from the African forces' command in Darfur spoke of battles that have been going on since August 28 in Kukul, Sayah, Abusakeri and Gabr Al-Kafud areas in North Darfur," said the AU mission's spokesman Nureddin Mezni.
Two Darfur rebel groups that took part in the talks in the Nigerian capital have rejected the agreement and violence has continued, hampering relief efforts.
Twelve aid workers have been killed in violent incidents in Darfur this year, most of them after the AU-brokered peace deal was signed.
The combined effect of war and famine has left up to 300,000 people dead in Darfur and displaced 2.5 million in three and half years of civil war.
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