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Natsios said Washington and other Western governments were looking for an "alternate way" to deal with the Darfur conflict. (Reuters) |
WASHINGTON — In a major US policy shift on the Darfur crisis, the Bush administration has confirmed it is backing away from demands for the deployment of UN troops in the troubled Sudanese region.
Andrew Natsios, Bush's personal envoy to Sudan, said Washington and other Western governments were looking for an "alternate way" to deal with the conflict, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, November 4.
"Our real interest here is not what it is called or what it looks like in terms of its helmet, but how robust and how efficient it is," he said.
US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday, November 1, that he was reviewing the US approach to the Darfur conflict.
Natsios said serious discussions were underway among the US, European countries and the UN over whether a force could be sent to Sudan without calling it a UN peacekeeping operation "in the traditional sense of the word."
"If it does not have a United Nations helmet, but it is very competent and very aggressive, then we have fulfilled our intention," he added.
Led by the United States, Western countries have pressed for the deployment of UN troops in Darfur under UN resolution 1706 to take over from the ill-equipped and cash-strapped African Union force.
But Khartoum has adamantly opposed the UN troop deployment, saying it could worsen the situation in Darfur and turn the country into a second Iraq.
Erupted in February 2003, the Darfur conflict has killed up to 200,000 people and displaced two million people.
The government and the main rebel group the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLA) signed an AU-mediated peace deal in May to end the bloody conflict.
The movement, however, split, with one faction refusing to sign. It then joined the other rebels who had refused to sign, and formed a "National Redemption Front" which has attacked aid convoys and government positions, prompting renewed fighting which has displaced a further 50,000 people.
In the latest spree of violence in the region, at least 63 people were killed in attacks in West Darfur.
NRF rebels said that half of those killed were children in the attacks on camps for displaced people in Jebel Moon in West Darfur.
The UN said 27 of those killed were under 12, and called on the Sudanese government to provide protection for civilians in the area.
Alternatives
The US envoy said that Washington could accept either a strengthened AU force or one led by Arab or Muslim nations, possibly backed by UN financial or logistical support.
Natsios said Sudan's government appeared to be "flexible" about accepting troops from North Africa and from other Muslim countries than from elsewhere.
The US administration could also use African mediation – Natsios mentioned Eritrea as a potential go-between – to renegotiate the May Darfur peace agreement in an effort to draw in other rebel holdouts.
Natsios, who was appointed special envoy to Sudan in September, visited Khartoum last month in a bid to persuade the Sudanese government to allow the UN force into Darfur.
But Sudanese President Omar Al-Beshir refused to meet with the US envoy.
"I did not meet with him and we were told one of the reasons was the executive order and the new legislation the president signed on this, so it's having its effect," Natsios said.
Natsios said Beshir was furious over Bush's renewal of US financial sanctions imposed on Sudan.
"They were quite upset about (it), so much so that they cancelled my meeting with President Beshir," he said.
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