Annan calls for advance team ahead of peacekeepers

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for the deployment of an "advance team" in Sudan to pave the way for a future UN peacekeeping mission once a comprehensive peace agreement has ended the 21-year civil war. "I am convinced that the deployment of an advance team... would show the commitment of the international community to assist the parties," said Annan in a report presented to the UN Security Council on 3 June. "The international community faces a truly daunting task in helping the government of Sudan and the [rebel] SPLM/A [Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army] to overcome their differences during peace implementations," he added. To access the report go to http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/ Based on agreements between the government of Sudan and the SPLM/A, the mandate of a future monitoring and observation operation would probably include monitoring a ceasefire and security arrangements; monitoring and supporting disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants; monitoring movement of returning refugees and internally displaced persons; supporting police, rule-of-law and human rights institutions; coordination of mine-clearance operations; electoral assistance; and public information, the report said. Six key protocols have been signed by Khartoum and the SPLM/A to date, which, together with two annexes, will make up a comprehensive peace agreement. Technical committees are expected to start work on 22 June on the annexes governing the implementation of the protocols, plus comprehensive ceasefire arrangements and guarantees. Annan said the sheer size of Sudan, which is as large as Western Europe, and a total lack of infrastructure meant that it was important to send staff there as early as possible so that they could handle the inevitably daunting logistical challenges. He warned that the advance team would need the full cooperation of both the government and the SPLM/A at all times, and would need to be granted complete and unrestricted freedom of movement throughout Sudan, as well as exemption from passport and visa regulations, and the right to import and export all necessary property, supplies and equipment. He said implementation of the agreements signed by both sides would require "an enormous amount of trust and patience" from the parties and on the part of the international community. "Implementation will radically alter current political realities in the Sudan." Three areas remained of particular concern, he said: that the parties implemented what they had signed in good faith; that they used their influence to halt the fighting in Darfur, the Malakal area of Upper Nile and elsewhere; and that the international community remained fully involved, in terms of investing time and funding. "Implementing the framework protocols in the Sudan will be every bit as hard as drawing them up, and there will be multiple occasions during the next six and a half years when the optimism we feel now will seem a distant memory," said the text. In March 2004, Annan's special adviser, Mohamed Sahnoun, met senior officials from Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, as well as the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development mediation team, to consult on planning for the future mission. Since then, a group of technical experts has been deployed to Sudan, assigned the task of locating suitable premises and facilities in Khartoum and other locations for headquarters, camps or other UN structures.