World donors to press Sudan on Darfur

BRUSSELS - The United Nations and aid agencies are to press donors to finance an ill-equipped African Union mission in Darfur for a few more months, while donors and the UN itself will urge Sudan to accept an eventual transfer to a more able UN mission.

The cash-strapped African Union's 7,000-strong mission has been unable to stem the violence Washington called genocide. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 2.5 million forced in exile, in three years of fighting in lawless Sudan.

The UN, the European Union and the United States have long been pressing Khartoum to accept the world organisation to take over the mission in an effort to stop the violence.

"A UN operation is the only viable and realistic option in Darfur in the long term," the European Union said on the eve of talks Tuesday in Brussels between UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the EU, the United States, other donors, and Sudan.

World powers are set to clash with Sudan's Foreign minister Lam Akol, as Foreign Ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim reiterated yesterday Sudan's repeated rejection of a UN mission.

But eight leading aid agencies said in a joint call on Tuesday the international community should focus on funding the AU to stop the killings now, rather than discuss the transfer.

The mission only has enough money to run its mission until August, EU officials said.

"The African Union ... simply cannot be expected to fulfil its mandate without proper support," said Barbara Stocking, director of the British branch of Oxfam, in a joint statement with other aid agencies.

"We are hoping that people will pledge," also said a UN spokeswoman. "We have to do something collectively to make the horror stop."

The AU had wanted to hand its operation to the United Nations at the end of September but its leaders decided earlier this month to extend its mission until the end of the year because of Sudan's opposition to any UN deployment.

"While an enormous amount of money is being spent debating what will happen in six months time, no one seems to have noticed that people are still being killed today," said Denis Caillaux, secretary general of CARE International.

The agencies urged donors to make pledges whether or not there is an agreement for a transition to the U.N.

But a senior EU official said "all support to AMIS (the AU's mission) is of course in the perspective of a transfer to the UN later."

Violence erupted in Darfur in 2003 when non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab dominated Khartoum government, accusing it of neglect and monopolising power.

Khartoum responded by arming a mostly Arab militia locally known as the Janjaweed, who stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and looting.

- REUTERS