José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, has called on Sudan's president to allow African Union peacekeepers in the troubled Darfur region to transfer to a stronger United Nations mission by the end of the year. He also pledged more in European food and other aid.
"What we want first of all is to avoid ... a Rwanda syndrome where the international community does not fulfil its responsibilities," Barroso warned on Monday in Addis Ababa, referring to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. "We support a stronger humanitarian and security presence in Darfur to avoid a tragedy," he said.
"The question of the presence of the UN or the AU should be seen as an instrument and not as an end in itself. What we want is peace in Darfur," he insisted, adding that he was "confident that some progress will happen", to get Sudan's green light for the deployment of such a mission.
"Europe and Africa are linked with a strong political partnership to bring peace in Darfur, to stabilise DRC ([Democratic Republic of Congo], to negotiate a lasting peace agreement in Ivory Coast," Barroso said.
"What is important is to work together, to keep our message clear, so that we can find a solution to this problem. Our agenda is peace," he reiterated.
A UN Security Council resolution calls for 20,000 UN peacekeepers to replace the underfunded, undermanned African Union force that has failed to prevent escalating violence in Darfur. But Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir rejects the UN mission, which cannot be deployed without his consent.
Meanwhile, the AU has started expanding its peacekeeping operation by 4,000 to bring the force in the western Sudan region to 11,000 by the end of the year. "The current situation in Darfur is unacceptable to us, it will never be acceptable," AU Commission Chairman, Alpha Oumar Konare, said.
"All that we can do, we will do to stop war in Darfur, to stop the tragic situation of the civilians in Darfur … it is inconceivable that we would abandon Darfur," Konare said, adding that "the new nature of the conflict was not within the mandate of AMIS [African mission in Sudan] ... there need to be forces able to dramatically improve the situation."
During this third meeting with the EC since the launch of the AU in 2002, Barroso and Konare signed an agreement for the European Commission to give the cash-strapped African Union US $69.6 million starting in January 2007.
The EC funds are to be used to meet the running costs of the 53-member African bloc, which has struggled to raise funds to develop closer ties among African countries and encourage democracy, peace and development on the continent.
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"What we want first of all is to avoid ... a Rwanda syndrome where the international community does not fulfil its responsibilities," Barroso warned on Monday in Addis Ababa, referring to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. "We support a stronger humanitarian and security presence in Darfur to avoid a tragedy," he said.
"The question of the presence of the UN or the AU should be seen as an instrument and not as an end in itself. What we want is peace in Darfur," he insisted, adding that he was "confident that some progress will happen", to get Sudan's green light for the deployment of such a mission.
"Europe and Africa are linked with a strong political partnership to bring peace in Darfur, to stabilise DRC ([Democratic Republic of Congo], to negotiate a lasting peace agreement in Ivory Coast," Barroso said.
"What is important is to work together, to keep our message clear, so that we can find a solution to this problem. Our agenda is peace," he reiterated.
A UN Security Council resolution calls for 20,000 UN peacekeepers to replace the underfunded, undermanned African Union force that has failed to prevent escalating violence in Darfur. But Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir rejects the UN mission, which cannot be deployed without his consent.
Meanwhile, the AU has started expanding its peacekeeping operation by 4,000 to bring the force in the western Sudan region to 11,000 by the end of the year. "The current situation in Darfur is unacceptable to us, it will never be acceptable," AU Commission Chairman, Alpha Oumar Konare, said.
"All that we can do, we will do to stop war in Darfur, to stop the tragic situation of the civilians in Darfur … it is inconceivable that we would abandon Darfur," Konare said, adding that "the new nature of the conflict was not within the mandate of AMIS [African mission in Sudan] ... there need to be forces able to dramatically improve the situation."
During this third meeting with the EC since the launch of the AU in 2002, Barroso and Konare signed an agreement for the European Commission to give the cash-strapped African Union US $69.6 million starting in January 2007.
The EC funds are to be used to meet the running costs of the 53-member African bloc, which has struggled to raise funds to develop closer ties among African countries and encourage democracy, peace and development on the continent.
eo/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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