Annan seeks Sudan's formal consent to Darfur force
Source: Reuters
By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan has written Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir seeking his formal assent to a series of U.N. requirements for a hybrid African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur. In a letter delivered to Bashir on Thursday by his special envoy in Khartoum, Annan said he planned "to proceed expeditiously" in bolstering the African Union force now in Darfur with U.N. troops and resources. "I therefore look forward to your early and positive response, which will ensure a common understanding among all stakeholders on the way forward in resolving the crisis in Darfur," Annan wrote Bashir in the letter made public at U.N. headquarters in New York. The special envoy, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, would wait in Khartoum for Bashir's response, which was expected within a day or two, U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The United Nations has been trying without much success to persuade Bashir to accept deployment of a hybrid, or mixed, United Nations-African Union force in Darfur, building on the ill-equipped 7,000 African Union troops already there. While Annan insists the Khartoum government has agreed to a joint U.N.-AU force in Darfur, Bashir and other officials repeatedly deny this. Annan is also battling the clock as his term as secretary-general runs out at the end of the month, when he is to be replaced by South Korean Ban Ki-moon. The hybrid force was proposed after Sudan rejected outright a purely U.N. force called for in a U.N. Security Council resolution passed on Aug. 31. Annan's letter said the size and composition of the hybrid force would be based on a June 2006 assessment by a joint AU-U.N. team, which said at least 22,600 troops and police would be needed. African troops would be used to the extent possible, at which point other countries would be asked to help, he said. The overall mission in Darfur would be led by a special representative appointed jointly by the United Nations and the African Union, Annan said. The force commander, who would exercise operational control over the military aspects of the mission, would report to that special representative. All military and police personnel deployed by the United Nations to strengthen peacekeeping in Darfur would wear blue berets and standard U.N. uniforms, rather than the green berets and uniforms of the African Union, Annan said. U.N. officials say the question of uniforms is key to a U.N. decision on financial support for the mission, which could end up costing $1 billion a year. "Through the combined efforts of all concerned, we will be able to bring to an end the enormous suffering of the people of Darfur and restore the long-awaited peace and stability in the region," Annan wrote.
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