![[Sudan] African Union peacekeepers in South Darfur. [Date picture taken: Aug 2005]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20061134.jpg.webp?itok=0k7_ja37 "Most pledges have been for the contribution of infantry units")
In a latest act of defiance, the Sudan government said on Monday it would allow African Union peacekeepers to remain in the war-torn Darfur region but only if the troops are not part of a proposed United Nations force.
Fears grew that western Sudan could descend into all-out war after the Council of Ministers on Sunday requested the AU withdraw its 7,000-strong force from Darfur when its mandate expires on 30 September. President Omar Bashir said his government would take over security in Darfur.
But in a softening of the government's original position, the presidential adviser, Mustafa Osman Ismail, told reporters in Khartoum on Monday that the AU would have to leave the country only if it couldn’t maintain its existing force.
“The AU has refused to extend its mandate beyond September 30. If they don’t want to extend their mandate, they have to go,” news agencies reported Ismail as saying.
A three year conflict in Darfur has left over 200,000 dead and displaced over 2 million more, making it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis according to the UN. The Sudan government has repeatedly rejected attempts to establish a UN peacekeeping operation in the region.
Since the signing of a 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) between the Sudanese government and one of the three main rebel groups, fighting has escalated between signatories and rebel groups that refused to sign the peace deal.
Last week the Sudanese government and janjaweed militia allies launched a major offensive in northern Darfur where the National Redemption Front (NRF) rebel alliance is based. Members of the NRF refused to sign the US-brokered Peace Agreement in May.
That offensive came despite the signing of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a gradual transition from the under-funded and under-equipped AU mission, which has been unable to prevent widespread abuses against civilians, to a stronger UN protection force.
AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said he was still waiting to hear how latest developments might affect the AU mission.
"We have been following the issue through the media, but we haven’t received any official notification so far," AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni told IRIN on Monday.
AU troops were expected to fill the gap before the arrival of the UN peacekeepers and ultimately be absorbed into the UN operation under last week’s Security Council resolution.
However, the deployment of the UN force of 17,500 troops and 3,300 civilian police is contingent on consent from the government of Sudan, which has so far rejected calls for a UN force in Darfur.
Bashir, in a meeting with Islamic scholars on Saturday, reiterated Sudan's rejection of international troops in Darfur and stressed that the country was ready to confront a UN force. He said sending an international force to Darfur was "colonisation in new disguise".
A senior humanitarian worker in Darfur warned on Monday that a withdrawal of the AU force would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences and could lead to mass displacement.
Without the AU, he explained, access to the affected population - at its worst since the start of the conflict in 2003 - would further deteriorate.
Rather than accepting a UN force, the Sudanese government has proposed its own protection plan, which involves deploying another 10,500 troops to "consolidate the security situation" in Darfur.
The military campaign in Northern Darfur and the reinforcements arriving daily in the main town of El Fasher contravene the DPA's restrictions and violate the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council in Resolution 1591 (2005).
In a related incident, two students were killed on Sunday and more than 10 injured when riot police broke up a discussion forum on achieving peace in Darfur at El Fasher University.
According to local observers, truckloads of armed forces surrounded the university and entered the grounds, using electric batons, tear gas and guns against the students. Dozens of students were reportedly injured and about 20 were detained.
On the same day, in an apparent show of force, a military procession of up to 50 vehicles carrying government special forces drove through El Fasher town. The vehicles proceeded to circle Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons on the town's outskirts with two Mi-24 helicopter gunships flying closely overhead.
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Fears grew that western Sudan could descend into all-out war after the Council of Ministers on Sunday requested the AU withdraw its 7,000-strong force from Darfur when its mandate expires on 30 September. President Omar Bashir said his government would take over security in Darfur.
But in a softening of the government's original position, the presidential adviser, Mustafa Osman Ismail, told reporters in Khartoum on Monday that the AU would have to leave the country only if it couldn’t maintain its existing force.
“The AU has refused to extend its mandate beyond September 30. If they don’t want to extend their mandate, they have to go,” news agencies reported Ismail as saying.
A three year conflict in Darfur has left over 200,000 dead and displaced over 2 million more, making it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis according to the UN. The Sudan government has repeatedly rejected attempts to establish a UN peacekeeping operation in the region.
Since the signing of a 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) between the Sudanese government and one of the three main rebel groups, fighting has escalated between signatories and rebel groups that refused to sign the peace deal.
Last week the Sudanese government and janjaweed militia allies launched a major offensive in northern Darfur where the National Redemption Front (NRF) rebel alliance is based. Members of the NRF refused to sign the US-brokered Peace Agreement in May.
That offensive came despite the signing of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a gradual transition from the under-funded and under-equipped AU mission, which has been unable to prevent widespread abuses against civilians, to a stronger UN protection force.
AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said he was still waiting to hear how latest developments might affect the AU mission.
"We have been following the issue through the media, but we haven’t received any official notification so far," AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni told IRIN on Monday.
AU troops were expected to fill the gap before the arrival of the UN peacekeepers and ultimately be absorbed into the UN operation under last week’s Security Council resolution.
However, the deployment of the UN force of 17,500 troops and 3,300 civilian police is contingent on consent from the government of Sudan, which has so far rejected calls for a UN force in Darfur.
Bashir, in a meeting with Islamic scholars on Saturday, reiterated Sudan's rejection of international troops in Darfur and stressed that the country was ready to confront a UN force. He said sending an international force to Darfur was "colonisation in new disguise".
A senior humanitarian worker in Darfur warned on Monday that a withdrawal of the AU force would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences and could lead to mass displacement.
Without the AU, he explained, access to the affected population - at its worst since the start of the conflict in 2003 - would further deteriorate.
Rather than accepting a UN force, the Sudanese government has proposed its own protection plan, which involves deploying another 10,500 troops to "consolidate the security situation" in Darfur.
The military campaign in Northern Darfur and the reinforcements arriving daily in the main town of El Fasher contravene the DPA's restrictions and violate the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council in Resolution 1591 (2005).
In a related incident, two students were killed on Sunday and more than 10 injured when riot police broke up a discussion forum on achieving peace in Darfur at El Fasher University.
According to local observers, truckloads of armed forces surrounded the university and entered the grounds, using electric batons, tear gas and guns against the students. Dozens of students were reportedly injured and about 20 were detained.
On the same day, in an apparent show of force, a military procession of up to 50 vehicles carrying government special forces drove through El Fasher town. The vehicles proceeded to circle Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons on the town's outskirts with two Mi-24 helicopter gunships flying closely overhead.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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