Annan to meet al-Bashir over UN force in Darfur

United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, announced he would meet the Sudanese President at the African Union (AU) summit on 1 July to discuss a potential role for a UN peacekeeping force in the troubled western Sudanese Darfur region. "I have agreed to meet with him there. But there are other African leaders who are also anxious to talk to him about this, and I hope the collective pressure will make a difference," Annan told reporters in New York on Tuesday. Khartoum has repeatedly objected to a transition from the under-funded AU peacekeepers to a UN force, and President Umar al-Bashir recently stressed in strong terms that he would never allow a UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur. "In politics, words like ‘never’ and ‘forever’ do not exist," Annan said, however. "We have seen leaders say lots of things, but they also find reasons and ways to adapt, to shift, to change direction, and often forget that they have used the word ‘never’." Meanwhile, the AU troops in Darfur had to be strengthened immediately in anticipation of a "substantial" UN force, Jean-Marie Guehenno, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations told reporters on Tuesday, after briefing the UN Security Council on the results of his recent assessment mission to Sudan. The 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement, signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja by the Sudanese government and one of the three main Darfur rebel groups, provided an opportunity to end the suffering in the strife-torn region, Guehenno observed. "The situation in Darfur remains very fragile - there is an agreement and that’s a major achievement - but it’s an agreement that opens a window, and that’s a [opportunity] that needs to be seized," he urged. To stabilise the fragile situation, a solid military presence consisting of some 17,000 troops, needed to be on the ground by January 2007, he said. Such a UN force could also address the situation in Chad, which has been suffering from cross-border incursions from Darfur militias. An 18 July international pledging conference would be crucial for the immediate strengthening of the AU mission, he added. At the same time there had to be political dialogue between the parties on the ground who had not been involved in the Abuja peace negotiations. "I also appeal to the [Security] Council to bring their collective and individual pressure to bear, pressure to bear not just on the Sudanese Government to cooperate and support the [UN] deployment, but also on the rebels that are outside the agreement to sign the agreement, and pressure on both parties to implement in good faith what they have agreed to do in Abuja," Annan said.