Eight UN Council envoys go to Addis to talk to Sudan
Source: Reuters
By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Eight U.N. Security Council envoys arrive in Ethiopia on Monday to hear Sudan's objections to a U.N. force in Darfur and explain why the world body should deploy peacekeepers in the turbulent region. The trip, requested by the African Union, is designed to break the logjam between the United Nations and the Khartoum government, which refuses to allow U.N. troops into Darfur, where violence is escalating and 2.5 million people are homeless. But Security Council diplomats said no decision would be made on the U.N. force or any alternative to it because council members themselves were not united. Peruvian Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, this month's council president, said members would be speaking to Sudan about resolution 1706, adopted on Aug. 31, calling for a peacekeeping force of up to 22,500 troops, police and civilians. "The members have agreed that these decisions will be the basis for discussions in Addis Ababa," Voto-Bernales said. The council was divided on fielding U.N. troops with China, Russia and Qatar abstaining. The eight-member mission will be headed by British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, who also led a council delegation of China, Tanzania, Argentina, Qatar and Congo Republic, which holds the African Union presidency. Hedi Annabi, an assistant secretary-general in the U.N. peacekeeping department, left on Thursday for talks with Sudanese officials, ahead of the council gathering, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The African Union has scheduled a series of meetings with Sudan on the future of an African Union force in Darfur, whose mandate expires on Dec. 31. The AU has asked the United Nations to take over its 7,000-strong operation. Not under discussion, however, are informal U.N. talks on a African Union-U.N. hybrid force that the 15-nation Security Council has not yet considered. One idea is to have the mission report politically to the United Nations as well as the African Union but have the force commander remain with the AU. Such an arrangement could prove difficult in determining who makes which decisions, even if the concept proves to be more amenable to Sudan. The conflict in Darfur is estimated to have killed 2.5 million people in fighting between rebels and the Arab-dominated government, backed by brutal militia. On Friday, the Norwegian Refugee Council, which provided relief to 300,000 Darfur war victims, said Khartoum's obstruction had forced it to close operations.
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