SC urges quick planning for proposed UN Darfur mission

The United Nations Security Council has asked the Secretary-General to expedite planning for the proposed transition of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur to a UN-led operation. In a resolution adopted on Friday, the Council also asked the Secretary-General to plan ways in which the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) could reinforce the peace efforts in Darfur and assist the AU mission in logistics, mobility, communications and other areas, and to present a range of options for a UN operation in Darfur to the Council by 24 April 2006. The Council also asked for recommendations on how to deal effectively with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the Uganda-based rebel group condemned by the Council for its attacks on civilians and other human rights abuses. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the head of UN peacekeeping, said planning for the transition to a UN operation in Darfur was going ahead, despite obstacles. "The train has left the station, in the sense that there is a sense of urgency," he said. "We are going to work very closely with the African Union. We are going to work also with the government of Sudan and also to strengthen the Abuja process," he added, referring to ongoing peace talks in the Nigerian capital between the Sudanese government and representatives of Darfurian rebel groups. Guéhenno said the plans could move forward only with Khartoum's consent, emphasising that it was crucial the Sudanese understood the violence could not be left unchecked. The Darfur conflict erupted in early 2003 when the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against the Sudanese government in Khartoum to end what they called the neglect and oppression of the inhabitants of Darfur. The government is accused of responding by sending in Arab militias known as the Janjawid.