Annan calls for supportin African Union forces in Darfur
Sudan-UN, Politics, 5/27/2006

Sudan has rejected a UN Security Council resolution's implementation where the resolution had called "for the deployment of a joint African Union and United Nations technical assessment mission within one week of the adoption of this resolution."

Meantime, while commending the government of Sudan and one rebel group in Darfur for signing a peace agreement earlier this month, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges others to join them and says the immediate priority is to strengthen the African Union peacekeeping mission since the region is still not at peace.

"I was pleased by the signing, on 5 May, of the Darfur Peace Agreement in Abuja (Nigeria) by the government of the Sudan and one faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army. I commend the Government and the senior leaders of the Minni Minawi faction of SLM/A for demonstrating commitment to reach a political settlement," he says in a new report to the Security Council on Darfur.

The people of the Sudan and the international community must urgently tackle the challenge of implementation, however, he says.

"Darfur is still far from being at peace and the violence and the deplorable death of an African Union (AU) interpreter at the Kalma camp on 7 May 2006 illustrates this tragic reality. I am especially concerned by the fact that there are rebel leaders who have not yet signed the Agreement, and the international community must work to convince them to choose peace over conflict, for the sake of their people," he says.

Even while the final rounds of talks were being held in Abuja, "all parties continued to engage in totally unacceptable levels of violence and despicable attacks against civilians, in breach of humanitarian law and earlier ceasefire commitments," Annan says.

He urges all parties, particularly Sudan's Government, to observe the ceasefire and desist from violence while modalities for implementing the new agreement are being developed, but he notes that "new armed groups have continued to be formed in Darfur as local populations have sought ways to defend themselves against attack."

On the humanitarian front, access has been limited by the Government's administrative measures, although the moratorium on restrictions for humanitarian work in Darfur was extended until next 31 January.

The status-of-forces agreement with the UN signed last December states that when UN offices, funds and programmes perform functions connected to the mandate of UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), they enjoy the same rights as UNMIS itself, Annan says.

In Northern Darfur, internal SLA fighting and the hijacking of non-governmental organization (NGO) vehicles have seriously limited the provision of humanitarian assistance. "As a result, 80,000 people have currently no access to vital services, around 1,000 children per month no longer receive routine vaccinations and a polio immunization campaign for 20,000 children under the age of 5 had to be suspended," he says.

Previous Stories:
  Sudan rejects UN froces presence in Darfur   (5/25/2006)
  Annan calls Bashir for Sudan's approval to UN assessment team   (5/24/2006)
  Sudan accused to be lacking on human rights commitments   (5/23/2006)

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