Leavenworth Strategist

Security Council deplores renewed incursions in eastern Chad

(UN News Service) 8 May 2009 – The Security Council today condemned the renewed military incursions in eastern Chad, where the United Nations says ongoing clashes are hindering efforts to assist hundreds of thousands of civilians taking refuge in the area.

In a statement read by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for May, the 15-member body spoke out against the incursions “of Chadian armed groups, coming from outside.”

The Council stressed that any attempt at destabilizing Chad by force is “unacceptable” and demanded that rebel armed groups cease violence immediately.

In addition, it voiced deep concern at the direct threat posed by the activity of armed groups for the safety of civilians and humanitarian operations in the area.

In an earlier meeting, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Dmitry Titov reported that the UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) was able to confirm that the Chadian National Army was conducting air strikes against a rebel column in eastern Chad, in the area of Goz Beida.

While no significant population displacements have been reported as a result of the fighting so far, the clashes have “seriously compromised” the ability of UN agencies and their non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to deliver humanitarian assistance, he said...

AU/UN Officials Report Humanitarian Progress in Darfur

VOA by Peter Heinlein Addis Ababa 06 April 2009

A senior official of the hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur says progress is being made in filling the gap left by Sudan's expulsion of 13 humanitarian aid agencies. The war crimes indictments handed down against Sudan's President, Omar al-Bashir, have not led to a deterioration of security in Darfur.

Rodolphe Adada, the joint A.U./U.N. Special Representative for Darfur says Sudan's decision to expel more than 10 percent of the aid agencies in Darfur has complicated the work of the hybrid peacekeeping force known as UNAMID. "It is like a threat. You cannot be doing just your normal business in front of many hungry and angry people," he said.

Adada says hungry Darfurians do not want to hear that UNAMID's mandate is strictly peacekeeping and not aid distribution...

Africa Command to airlift peacekeeper equipment to Darfur

by Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service

1/7/2009 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- U.S. Africa Command officials are laying plans to airlift heavy equipment to Sudan to support African Union and U.N. peacekeepers involved in the country's Darfur region, an AFRICOM spokesman said Jan. 6.

AFRICOM members will transport about 75 tons of heavy equipment -- water tankers, fuel tank trucks, forklifts and other oversized cargo -- from Kigali, Rwanda, to Darfur aboard two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, Vince Crawley said...

UN says Darfur conflict shows no sign of ending

By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As the conflict in Darfur enters its sixth year, there is still widespread violence in the region, no sign of a political settlement and millions of civilians living in camps on lifesaving international aid, the U.N.'s peacekeeping chief said Friday.

Alain Le Roy told the U.N. Security Council that the joint African Union-United Nations force that took over peacekeeping in Darfur almost a year ago "has been much too slow in providing real improvements for the ordinary citizens on the ground and inadequate in resolving the Darfur crisis."

He said the U.N. must accelerate deployment of the 26,000-strong force, but stressed that "the fundamental responsibility for making real progress" lies with the government of Sudan and rebel groups which must stop fighting and start talking under U.N. mediator Djibrill Bassole...

AU Chair Meets UN Peacekeeping Chief

African Union (Addis Ababa) PRESS RELEASE

The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Mr. Jean Ping, on Monday 13 October 2008, received in audience, Mr. Alain Le Roy, the UN Under- Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. The meeting provided an opportunity for the two to exchange views on South Sudan, Darfur and Somalia issues.

With regard to South Sudan, the Chairperson of the AU Commission and the UN Under-Secretary General for peacekeeping Operations agreed that the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) should take all the necessary steps to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). In this regard, they urged all the parties to the CPA to do their utmost to address the outstanding issues and ensure the successful implementation of the CPA, in both letter and spirit, in order to promote a lasting peace in the Sudan.

Concerning Darfur the two noted that the Government of Sudan is willing to cooperate with the United Nations and the African Union for the full deployment of the UNAMID force. They expressed their determination to keep working together for the deployment, in the coming months of at least 80% of the authorized force.

New UN-African Union mediator for Darfur conflict takes up post

UN News Service, 28 August 2008 – The newly appointed chief of the joint United Nations-African Union effort to bring peace to Darfur arrived today in the conflict-wracked Sudanese region, pledging to consult as widely as possible with the warring parties to try to find a lasting solution.

Djibril Yipènè Bassolé, the Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, has assumed his duties in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and the headquarters of the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force (known as UNAMID).

Speaking to reporters after his arrival, he stressed that any negotiations to resolve the five-year conflict that has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million others cannot take place in a climate of tension and mistrust.

Missions at the ‘outer limits’ of peacekeeping

(Financial Times) By Harvey Morris at the United Nations

Published: July 24 2008 01:27

The head of United Nations peacekeeping has urged the Security Council to satisfy itself there is a peace to keep before sending troops on further large-scale missions such as the one in Darfur.

“I would say very bluntly that there are good reasons to be hesitant,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, who leaves his post this month after eight years in which the number of UN peacekeepers worldwide – and the cost of deploying them – have almost trebled.

 

UN Continues Struggle With Peacekeeping in Darfur

By Derek Kilner (VOA)
Nairobi
10 June 2008

The U.N. Security Council is confronting growing concern about the credibility of its peace mission in the western Sudan's Darfur region. As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, more than half the force has yet to be deployed, and the security situation has not improved much.

It has been nearly six months since the U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) replaced an African Union force seen as undermanned and under-resourced in Darfur.

U.N. council pushes Sudan on south, Darfur

KHARTOUM, June 4 (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council envoys pressed Sudan's government on Wednesday to avert a return to civil war with the south and over the separate conflict in its western Darfur region.

Khartoum accused an international prosecutor of wrecking the peace process for Darfur.

UN, AU Envoys Say Chad-Sudan Relations Holding Up Darfur Peace Deal

By VOA News
08 April 2008
United Nations and African Union envoys say hostilities between Chad and Sudan are standing in the way of a potential peace deal in Darfur.

Speaking to reporters in Khartoum Tuesday, U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson said it is impossible to separate violence between the two countries from the violence in Darfur.

Peacekeeping in Darfur Hits More Obstacles

By LYDIA POLGREEN (New York Times)

ABU SUROUJ, Sudan — As Darfur smolders in the aftermath of a new government offensive, a long-sought peacekeeping force, expected to be the world’s largest, is in danger of failing even as it begins its mission because of bureaucratic delays, stonewalling by Sudan’s government and reluctance from troop-contributing countries to send peacekeeping forces into an active conflict.

The force, a joint mission of the African Union and the United Nations, officially took over from an overstretched and exhausted African Union force in Darfur on Jan. 1. It now has just over 9,000 of an expected 26,000 soldiers and police officers and will not fully deploy until the end of the year, United Nations officials said.

Russia to Aid Mission in Chad

Associated Press
Wednesday, March 12, 2008; A12

PARIS, March 11 -- Russia has approved the deployment of helicopters to bolster a European Union peacekeeping force along Chad's border with the western Darfur region of Sudan, the Russian defense minister said Tuesday.

The deployment would be the first direct Russian contribution to an E.U. military mission, an E.U. official said, though details of the plan were still being discussed and no timeline was announced. The E.U. force's mission to Chad is to help limit possible spillover from fighting in the Darfur region.

Sudan troops clash with EU Force

BBC (4 Mar 08) Sudanese forces have clashed with troops from the European Union Force in Chad after they crossed the border into the Darfur region, Sudan says.

A Sudanese soldier and a civilian were killed during the exchange of fire, the Sudanese army says.

The EU Force (Eufor) says it was trying to recover one of its vehicles which had accidentally strayed into Sudan.

A French soldier who was in the vehicle is still missing, and France has asked for Sudan's help to find him.

The French soldier's disappearance is the first serious incident experienced by the force. Another soldier was injured - the mission's first casualty.

European Union mission in Chad to last a year

The Associated Press

Thursday, February 28, 2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium: An EU peacekeeping mission in Chad will not remain deployed for more than a year, the EU's top general said Thursday.

The mission, which will have 3,700 troops, is designed to protect tens of thousands of refugees along Chad's border with Sudan, as well as in the neighboring Central African Republic, who have fled fighting in Sudan's Darfur region.

"In a year, the operation will be over, and it is clear that the participants will not stay," Gen. Henri Bentegeat, chairman of the EU Military Committee, said in the European Parliament. He said the United Nations will likely take over responsibility after that.

"The question of a follow-up will be discussed at the six-month review stage in September. The first question will be whether there is a need for a U.N. force to take over," he said. "Either the U.N. will have to deploy a force or just a civilian police operation to ensure safety of the camps and displaced people."

African Union needs help

By Emmanuel Goujon, AFP	Published:Jan 30, 2008
ADDIS ABABA - The African Union (AU) starts a heads of state summit in Addis Ababa seeking to bolster the body’s capacity to solve conflicts such as the crises in Darfur and Somalia. The African Mission in Sudan (Amis) deployed in August 2004 was the first time the continental body had succeeded in imposing a military deployment on the soil of one of its member states. But the force has suffered from a lack of funds and equipment, its 7,000-plus troops have been paid intermittently and been unable to make a serious impact on the ground.

EU force chief warns Chad, CAR rebels not to interfere

BRUSSELS (AFP) — The commander of the EU's new peacekeeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic warned rebel groups Tuesday not to interfere with its efforts to protect refugees from strife-torn Darfur.

"We have a very clear mission. If the rebels are not interfering with our mission, it is no business of ours," Irish General Pat Nash told reporters in Brussels. "That is where we take action, if they interfere with our mission."

"The refugee and internally displaced people situation will require a robust security presence," he said. When asked if his troops would fire on rebels if confronted, he replied curtly: "Yes."

EU: Chad on, Kosovo delayed

By Toby Vogel (European Voice.Com)

The foreign ministers of the EU will formally launch the EU’s much-delayed peacekeeping mission to Chad when they meet in Brussels next Monday (28 January), but defer a similar decision on a civilian security mission in Kosovo, according to diplomats.

EU Force Approved in Chad and CAR

BBC- Military officials have approved a European peacekeeping force in Chad and the Central African Republic.

The contingent will have the task of protecting refugees from Darfur and people displaced by internal fighting.

EU ministers will still have to rubber-stamp the 3,500-strong force in time for a launch in early February.

Diplomats said that a shortfall of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft had been solved by further contributions from France, Belgium and Poland.

Sudan admits attacking UN/AU Darfur peacekeepers

Thu Jan 10, 2008 By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan admitted on Thursday that its troops had opened fire on a joint U.N./African Union peacekeeping convoy in Darfur, contradicting an earlier denial by its ambassador to the United Nations.

A spokesman for the Sudanese armed forces said the attack was the result of a "shared mistake".

Pressure mounts on Sudan over Darfur force

LISBON (AFP) — The pressure was ratcheted up Saturday on Sudan for the deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping force to Darfur as EU leaders met President Omar al-Beshir on the sidelines of an ongoing summit here.

After the head of the African Union commission and UN chief Ban ki-Moon's deputy called for the immediate dispatch of the hybrid UN-AU force, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates expressed their concerns about delays directly to Beshir in Lisbon.

Joao Gomes Cravinho, Portugal's secretary of state for cooperation and development, described the hour-long meeting as "very frank" in which Europe's concerns were "rigorously conveyed".

Europeans Unlikely to Meet UN Darfur Goal

By CONSTANT BRAND

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — European nations look unlikely to meet an urgent U.N. call to provide military helicopters for a peacekeeping force planned for Darfur, saying their armies are already stretched by missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and other hot spots.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million uprooted from their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region since a rebellion broke out in 2003, and many European governments have said they support deploying the peacekeeping force.

Despite the verbal support, no one has offered any of the 24 helicopters sought by U.N. officials.

Darfur: UN, African Union peace envoys hold talks with regional partners

3 December 2007 – The United Nations and African Union Special Envoys for Darfur are meeting tomorrow in Egypt with regional partners to the peace process in the war-torn Sudanese region to assess the progress so far and help forge agreement on the way forward.

Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim will hold talks in the town of Sharm el-Sheikh with representatives of Chad, Egypt, Eritrea and Libya, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters.

The meeting is the latest step in the efforts of the UN and AU to broker a comprehensive peace accord to quell the violence and humanitarian suffering in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others displaced since rebels began fighting Government forces and allied militia known as the Janjaweed in 2003.

UN Concerned Over Darfur Mission

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2007; 6:31 PM

BEIJING -- A joint peacekeeping force planned for Darfur remains threatened by political deadlock and a shortage of equipment, the head of U.N. peacekeeping said Wednesday.

Jean-Marie Guehenno said only a "strong, robust" force stood a chance of making a difference in Darfur, given the Sudanese region's harsh terrain. The proposed 26,000-strong hybrid African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force is expected to arrive early next year.