African Union to send more peacekeepers to Darfur

The African Union (AU) agreed on Wednesday to boost the number of peacekeepers in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region and to send in a civilian police force, Said Djinnit, head of the AU’s Peace and Security Council, told reporters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The deployment of the armed force, which would number 3,320, was expected in a matter of weeks, he said. The one-year mission, he added, would be made up of 2,241 troops, of whom 450 would be military observers and 815 civilian police. There would also be 164 support staff. "Both the size and mandate of the mission have been strengthened to be able to better assist the parties honour their commitment and work together with renewed commitment and determination to achieve lasting peace in Darfur," Djinnit said. "We are talking about weeks to have the enhancement of people on the ground." The AU appealed to its member states to provide "financial and logistical" support as well as troops and police for deployment in Darfur. "The size of the mission is appropriate, given the level of where we are in the peace process, given the conditions in which we are operating, and given the mandate and task of the mission," Djinnit added. The announcement by the AU came on the eve of the planned resumption of peace talks on Darfur in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Djinnit added that the Peace and Security Council had urged the warring factions at the peace talks to show "commitment and spirit of compromise" to end suffering. The expanded force would be funded to the tune of US $220 million, mainly by the European Union peace fund and the United States. Currently some 300 Rwandan and Nigerian troops are in Darfur to protect 80 observers already on the ground. Djinnit said the force would have three main functions - monitoring and observing, confidence building and contributing to a secure environment, ensuring aid can get through. The 53-member African Union describes the new mission a "peacekeeping operation". It is mandated to "protect civilians under imminent threat," although the protection of civilians is the primary responsibility of the government of Sudan. Djinnit told reporters that the exact rules of engagement for the AU force had yet to be drawn up. The force would also investigate violations of the humanitarian ceasefire and provide a visible military presence to stop armed groups like the government-allied Janjawid militias from attacking civilians. Jean Hilaire Mbeambea, whose country, Cameroon, currently holds the rotating chair of the 16-strong AU Peace and Security Council, said "mass suffering" was still taking place in the region. However, speaking after a daylong meeting at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, he stressed it was not genocide. "Abuses are still taking place," Mbeambea said. "There is mass suffering, but it is not genocide." The conflict in Darfur between the Sudanese military supported by Janjawid militias, and rebels fighting to end alleged marginalisation and discrimination of the region, has displaced about 1.45 million people and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has called the situation one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. In London on Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged support for AU efforts to bolster its monitoring and protection presence there. He called on all sides to respect the ceasefire and take measures to protect civilians, even before the arrival of AU troops.