Sudan rejects UN resolution on Darfur deployment

Khartoum plans to move 10,500 troops to Darfur to face rebels. Picture / Reuters

Khartoum has rejected a UN Security Council resolution to establish a UN peacekeeping force for the stricken Sudanese province of Darfur.

"Our stand is very clear, that the Sudanese government has not been consulted and it is not appropriate to pass a resolution before they seek the permission of Sudan," said Presidential Advisor Ali Tamim Fartak.

The council yesterday adopted the resolution, which strengthened the mandate of a struggling African mission and injected fresh military assets.

It set out plans for up to 22,500 UN troops and police officers to be deployed "no later than" the end of the year.

The troops would bolster the existing 7,000 member African force, which would then be absorbed by the UN mission.

However the resolution made it clear that the UN force could only take over from the African troops in Darfur with the agreement of the Sudanese government - which remains implacably opposed to its deployment.

Human rights monitors warned that the resolution, although adopted with the intention of halting the violence that has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced 2.5m over the last three years, was nothing other than an empty promise.

The Sudanese President, Lt Gen Omar Al-Bashir, has warned that Sudan would confront any international forces sent to Darfur and would fight them "as Hezbollah beat Israeli forces" in Lebanon.

The resolution was passed by 12 votes to 0, with Russia, China and Qatar abstaining.

Sudan's UN representatives boycotted the session. The presidential advisor responsible for Darfur, Majzoub al-Khalifa, told Al Jazeera television that the resolution was completely rejected by Sudan.

"We completely reject this resolution...which is illegal," he said. "This resolution is opposing the Darfur peace agreement."

Britain and America, which sponsored the resolution, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in implementing a peace agreement for Darfur.

The violence in the western province the size of France has worsened significantly since the peace accords were signed last May between the government and two rebel groups.

The Sudanese military plans to move 10,500 troops to Darfur to face rebels who have refused to sign the agreements that provided for some power-sharing, raising fears of a full-scale war.

Jan Egeland, the UN's chief humanitarian official, told the security council earlier this week that he feared "a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale" within weeks unless the Council acted immediately to deal with the spiralling violence, looting and displacement.

A Sudanese driver for the international Red Cross on Wednesday became the 12th aid worker to be killed in Darfur.

Mr Egeland warned of "hundreds of thousands of deaths" if aid operations - already at grave risk because of rising numbers of attacks against individual workers, dramatically reduced access to those in need, and massive funding shortfalls - collapse.

Darfur rebels said yesterday that Sudanese planes and troops attacked villages in the western region ahead of the Security Council vote.

The Sudanese government and its allied Arab Janjaweed militia have been accused of a scorched earth policy that has driven local black African villagers from their homes, following an armed rebellion by black African tribes.

US ambassador John Bolton yesterday urged the full implementation of the resolution, saying that "Every day we delay only adds to the suffering of the Sudanese people and extends the genocide."

China and Russia did not oppose the resolution, but had wanted the Sudanese government to agree to the measures before adopting it, fearing that its hasty adoption could prove counter-productive and trigger further warfare.

"This is obviously not the intended outcome of the council in adopting this resolution," UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said.

The resolution allows UN troops to "use all necessary means" within its capabilities to protect UN personnel and facilities and prevent attacks and threats against civilians.

Until now, the African force has suffered from a lack of firepower which has prevented it from taking action to prevent attacks and protect villagers, in addition to being under-equipped and virtually bankrupt.

The resolution provides for additional helicopters and logistics.

"The test before the council today was whether it was prepared to act to mandate the resolution and assume its responsibilities to the people of Darfur," Britain's Deputy UN Ambassador Karen Pierce said.

"The adoption of this resolution shows that it is."

- INDEPENDENT / REUTERS