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UN:
JOINT UN-AU PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DARFUR STILL MISSING KEY CAPACITIES:
08/10/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 08 October 2007 -
The hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping operation that will
be deployed in the war-torn Darfur region of western Sudan has shortfalls in
several key aviation and ground transport capacities, senior UN officials today,
warning that the mission’s ability to carry out its basic work will be in
jeopardy unless those gaps are quickly filled.
The mission is on track to reach its
benchmarks for the deployment of initial essential personnel before January,
when it is scheduled to take over from the existing AU mission, Assistant
Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute told reporters in New York.
Ms. Holl Lute, who is the acting head
of the Department of Field Support, said most key posts in the leadership of the
mission (to be known as UNAMID) have been identified and filled, with only a few
such appointments remaining.
Two battalions are also being readied
to be deployed to strengthen the AU mission ahead of UNAMID taking over, she
said, while progress has also been made on major contracts in the areas of
civilian aviation, fuel and rations.
But Under-Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Affairs Jean-Marie Guéhenno said that UNAMID is still lacking
ground transport, light tactical helicopters and transport helicopters. “These
capacities are vital… If we don’t have the force enablers, I am concerned”
that the mission will be unable to deliver on the key aspects of its work, Mr.
Guéhenno said.
He pointed to recent attacks on AU
peacekeepers in Haskanita, where over a dozen people were killed and many more
wounded before the South Darfur town was burned down, in underscoring the need
for “troops that are very mobile with a capacity to dominate any situation.”
Noting that several European countries
were stepping forward to provide resources for a separate peace mission (to be
known as MINURCAT) in neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR),
he called for similar commitments to UNAMID.
“Otherwise it would be very
dangerous if what is the most challenging situation – the situation in Darfur
– did not have the right resources. That would put in jeopardy all our efforts
to stabilize this region where there has been much too much suffering.”
Since fighting between rebels,
Government forces and allied Janjaweed militia broke out in 2003, an estimated
200,000 people have been killed and at least another 2.2 million forced to flee
their homes. Some 4 million Darfurians now depend on humanitarian aid.
Mr. Guéhenno said he was concerned
that the situation on the ground in Darfur has deteriorated in recent weeks,
particularly in the south, where a base with the AU mission was overrun a week
ago and many troops were killed.
He stressed it was also vital for
there to be progress in implementing the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA)
ending the separate north-south civil war in Sudan.
The Under-Secretary-General added that
a technical team has been sent to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to finalize
the deployment plan for UNAMID, which at full capacity should have more than
19,000 troops, over 6,000 police and 5,500 civilian staff.
So far the UN and the AU have agreed
that Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria
and Senegal are providing either an infantry battalion or a logistics,
reconnaissance, transport, military police or sector reserve company to UNAMID,
which is to have a predominantly African composition.
Bangladesh, Jordan, Nepal, the
Netherlands, Thailand and the Nordic countries in Europe are also providing
similar resources, as well as a field hospital.
Ms. Holl Lute noted that the Sudanese
Government has given assurance that Darfur’s airstrips will be made available
for the use of UNAMID so that it can be deployed.
But the mission does not yet have
agreement for the land needed to facilitate the deployment of the heavy support
package, a transition phase between the current AU mission and UNAMID.
“We have an engineering unit that is
due by the end of this month that will depend on land being secured,” Ms. Holl
Lute said. “So we have a team on the ground in Nyala [the state capital of
South Darfur] right now negotiating with the local government to ensure that we
have a place for them to go.”
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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