26,000-strong African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur

UNITED NATIONS: Britain and Ghana circulated a draft Security Council resolution Wednesday that would authorize a 26,000-strong African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force for Darfur and threaten "further measures" against combatants who attack civilians and obstruct peace efforts. The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, states that there will be a single chain of command for the "hybrid" force, provided by the United Nations, a move that would clear up the contentious issue of who will be in charge of the joint AU-UN force.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno indicated last month that the Sudanese government had accepted that the United Nations would have overall operational control of the force while day-to-day operations would be in the hands of its African commanders. But many Security Council members wanted that spelled out clearly in a resolution. The draft states that the AU-UN hybrid operation in Darfur, to be known as UNAMID, will have up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, a civilian component including up to 3,772 international police, and 19 special police units with up to 2,660 officers.

It demands that all parties in Darfur "immediately cease hostilities and attacks" on the AU force, civilians and humanitarian workers. It also emphasizes that "there can be no military solution to the conflict in Darfur and calls upon the government of Sudan and the rebel groups to enter into talks" to reach a political settlement.

The four-year conflict between ethnic African rebels and pro-government janjaweed militia in Sudan's vast western region has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million, and a beleaguered 7,000-strong African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting. A peace agreement signed a year ago year between President Omar al-Bashir's government and one rebel group in Darfur has been ineffective because more than a dozen other rebel factions rejected the deal as insufficient and are still fighting.

The U.N. and Western governments have been pressing Sudan since November to accept a U.N. plan for a hybrid force to replace the poorly equipped and underfunded AU force. In April, Sudan agreed to a "heavy support package" to strengthen the AU force, including 3,000 U.N. troops, police and civilian personnel along with aircraft and other equipment. The draft resolution calls on all parties to urgently facilitate the full deployment of the heavy support package and an earlier light support package, and to finalize contributions to the hybrid force within 30 days of the adoption of the resolution. Guehenno has said he hopes the heavy support package can be in Darfur in the coming months so that by the end of year deployment of the hybrid force can start.

The draft resolution asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report to the council in three months on progress — and obstacles — to deploying the light and heavy support packages, to implementing a U.N.-Sudan agreement to speed up humanitarian assistance, to promoting a political settlement, to achieving a cease-fire, and to implementing last year's Darfur Peace Agreement. It also asks the secretary-general and a panel of experts "to report immediately to the council on any failure by the parties to comply with this resolution." The draft stresses that "in the event the parties to the conflict in Darfur fail to fulfill their commitments or cooperate fully with this resolution" or previous resolutions "the council, drawing on the above reports, will take further measures." It does not state what these measures could be, but further measures often refers to sanctions.

The draft resolution also reiterates the council's readiness to consider deploying a U.N. mission to eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic, which have been affected by the spillover of the Darfur conflict. The draft resolution welcomes the appointment of Force Commander Martin Agwait of Nigeria and the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur Rodolphe Adada, a former Republic of Congo foreign minister. Guehenno has said Agwait will report to Adada.
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