Global Policy Forum

By Evelyn Leopold

U.N. members need to give the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur an ultimatum to compel them to clinch a peace deal by the end of the year, the top U.N. official in Sudan said on Wednesday. "The parties sometimes are talking, and a day after, they're shooting," said Jan Pronk, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy in Sudan, after briefing the 15-nation U.N. Security Council. He said the council had to tell the rebels, the Khartoum government and their supporters in the region, "We don't accept any more the continuation of fighting and we want comprehensive peace agreement by the 31st of this year." Otherwise they had to consider action that would cut off the financing of the fighters, Pronk told a news conference.

Violence in Sudan's western Darfur region has diminished over the past year, partly because militias have run out of targets after razing countless villages. But the region is still filled with bandits, government forces and rival rebel groups, and fighting picked up this month. Pronk said that when the Darfur conflict began U.N. humanitarian officials agitated for the Security Council to take up the conflict, which it refused to do. A "massive force" was needed then to guarantee security but instead several thousand African Union troops and monitors had to carry the burden. And now the council needed to plan for how to keep the peace in case a peace deal was signed. "The longer a situation like this lasts, the more difficult it is to change it anymore," Pronk said.

At least 180,000 people in Darfur have died from violence, hunger and disease and 2 million have been driven out of their homes, most into squalid camps or neighboring Chad. African villagers escalated a rebellion against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government over land and resources after which Sudan is accused of unleashing Arab militia. Pronk said he reminded council members that pressure from them a year ago on Khartoum and southern rebels resulted in an agreement on the three-decade old civil war. The Khartoum government, which now is being transformed into a national unity government with southern rebels, is supported by most Arab nations as well as China, which has oil interests in Sudan.

North-South Deal Fragile

Pronk warned, however, that the north-south deal needed more peacekeepers and financing and that sporadic violence was increasing since the death of John Garang, the southern rebel leader who became Sudan's vice president under the pact. He died in a helicopter crash over Uganda on July 30. His death brought rioting between Arabs and Africans in several Sudanese cities, including Khartoum, and a resurgence of the activity by the brutal Lord Resistance Army (LRA), a Uganda outlaw group with camps in southern Sudan.

No one is sure what the purpose of the LRA is, which has recruited, brutalized, kidnapped and maimed several thousand children and is led by a self-proclaimed Christian mystic, named Joseph Kony. The group was first armed by Sudan, and Pronk said there were unconfirmed reports factions in Sudan's military were still sending weapons to the LRA so "we are asking questions." He said that planned joint military units between the South and the Sudan soldiers might be able to prevent attacks, by the group, which also has terrorized northern Uganda for nearly two decades as well as parts of the Congo.

But Pronk said money was desperately needed throughout the arid country or there would be no peace. Returning refugees to the South are living in dismal conditions and funds are short. Humanitarian and development programs are budgeted for $1.9 billion and have received less than 50 percent. The United Nations has authorized a peacekeeping force of 10,000 for southern Sudan but only 2,500 have arrived so far. Pronk linked some of Sudan's troubles to Garang's death and said he hoped a transparent investigation would be completed soon because rumors were mounting that his death was not accidental.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.