UN-AU draw up plans for large Darfur force

UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Reuters) The United Nations and the African Union drew up plans for a peacekeeping force for Darfur of more than 23,000 troops, police and other personnel to protect civilians and be able to use force to deter violence.

The so-called AU-UN ''hybrid'' force still has to be approved by the UN Security Council and the AU's Peace and Security Committee and then submitted to the Sudanese government.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the Security Council could adopt a statement as early as Friday on the 40-page plan.

''I think that is a positive development,'' he said. ''Now the ball will be in Sudan's court.'' Sudan has not rejected the force but various top officials have said the number of troops were too large and that the United Nations should finance and augment the African Union force of 7,000 with logistics, command and control functions, transport and financing.

Khartoum's UN Ambassador Abdelmahmood Abdelhaleem, speaking at a Reuters Newsmakers panel yesterday, chided the United Nations for blaming Khartoum for the delay in peacekeepers when its own plans had not yet been presented.

But he said his government would study them as soon as possible.

Sudan had stalled for months in approving the first two phases of UN support for the African Union in a lead up to the hybrid force.

The extensive plan outlines difficulties for operating in impoverished arid Darfur in Sudan's west and where Khartoum's help in providing land and water for barracks was often lacking, even for the small UN advance contingents now being deployed.

One of the main tasks is to provide security to the tens of thousands living in camps and patrol humanitarian supply routes and ''where necessary escort humanitarian convoys,'' which have been attacked regularly by armed groups and militia.

''The harsh terrain and lack of road infrastructure, particularly during the rainy season, would require a force equipped with high mobility ground vehicles and a strong air component,'' the report said.

''The hybrid military force must be capable and ready to deter violence, including in a pre-emptive manner,'' it said.

The proposals have two options for troops, one with 19,500, composed of 18 infantry battalions and another with 17,605, with 15 infantry battalions. Police would include 3,772 officers and perhaps another 2,500 policemen to establish and train local police in the camps.

The lack of resources sparked the conflict four years ago when non-Arab rebels took up arms, accusing the government of not heeding their plight. Khartoum then armed some Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, who raped, killed and pillaged.

In the last year both Arab and non-Arab tribes have been fighting among themselves, shattering an earlier peace accord. Some 200,000 people are estimated to have died and more than 2 million have been made homeless since 2003.

Still, the new force is to monitor compliance with the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May 2006 with the government and one rebel group that has not been implemented or expanded, either militarily or in any sharing of resources.

Sudan's stopped bombing raids at the beginning of the year but on April 19, 21, and 23, its air force hit three towns in North Darfur and prevented a meeting of rebel commanders it had encouraged to take place.

The troops also are to monitor the border between Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic, where refugees have fled, often chased by militia. Sudan and Chad support each other's rebels and the report noted ''Chadian rebels in West Darfur and Sudanese rebels in eastern Chad.'' REUTERS AE SSC1354