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NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council has approved the use of force to protect civilians as part of its authorisation of up to 26,000 troops and police for Darfur.
Expected to cost more than US$2 billion ($2.65 billion) in the first year, the combined "hybrid" UN-African Union operation in Sudan's arid western region aims to quell violence in Darfur, where more than 2.1 million people have been driven into camps and an estimated 200,000 have died over the past four years.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who conducted months of talks with Khartoum, described the unanimously approved resolution as "historic and unprecedented" and said the mission would "make a clear and positive difference".
The resolution authorises up to 19,555 military personnel and 6432 civilian police, which if deployed would be the world's largest peacekeeping force.
The resolution, number 1769, invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, under which the UN can authorise force. The measure allows the use of force for self-defence, to ensure the free movement of humanitarian workers and to protect civilians under attack, but acknowledges Sudan's sovereignty. The resolution, which has been watered down several times, no longer allows the new force to seize and dispose of illegal arms, saying it can only monitor such weapons.
Sudan's UN Ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, told reporters, "I am comfortable with the resolution." He said the use of Chapter 7 was limited and that negotiators "went to great lengths to satisfy our concerns".
Australia will send a small number of doctors and nurses, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. But Australia would not be sending troops. "We obviously have a lot of commitments already so it will be very limited in what we can do," Downer said in Manila. "But we are looking at providing some ... civilian doctors and nurses to assist the UN."
At the UN, United States Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called on Sudan's President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, to provide "maximum co-operation" in deploying the peacekeepers or face sanctions.
"If Sudan does not comply with this resolution, the US will move for the swift adoption of unilateral and multilateral measures. Now Sudan faces a choice. Sudan can choose the path of co-operation or defiance."
Visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a similar sanctions threat in a speech earlier in the day. The revised text, however, dropped a threat to impose further sanctions if Khartoum balked. China's UN Ambassador, Wang Guangya, who chaired the meeting, said the purpose of the resolution was to launch the hybrid force "rather than threaten sanctions". The measure was negotiated by Britain and France and also sponsored by Italy, Belgium, Congo Republic, Slovakia and Peru.
Rape, looting, murder and government bombardment drove millions from their homes in Darfur, where mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003. The rebels have now split into a dozen groups, many fighting one another.
Infantry soldiers will be drawn mainly from African nations. Personnel from elsewhere in the world are expected to be used for specialised engineering and in command headquarters.
The resolution calls on member states to finalise their contributions to the new force, called UNAMID, the UN-AU Mission in Darfur, within 30 days. UNAMID would incorporate the under-equipped and under-financed 7000 AU troops now in Darfur.
Sudan, after months of hesitation, has agreed to the troop numbers, but UN officials expect it will take a year to get the entire force in place. Khartoum also has to agree to allow units from individual countries into Sudan. The new headquarters should be running by October 31, and UN members were urged to cover costs as soon as possible for the AU troops. The combined force is to be in charge of all operations by December 31.
- REUTERS, AAP
