EU may aid refugees from Darfur

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 24, 2007 by Constant Brand Associated Press

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European Union nations agreed Monday to start planning for a possible 3,000-member peacekeeping mission to Chad to help provide security and aid to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in neighboring Darfur.

A meeting of EU foreign ministers said any mission had to be backed by the United Nations "with a clearly defined exit strategy" and in cooperation with the African Union, neighboring countries and humanitarian aid groups.

Monday's green-light will allow EU experts to gather information and data on what countries could provide forces for the mission and allow the United Nations in New York to start drafting a resolution for it.

The four-year conflict between Sudan's ethnic African rebels and its pro-government janjaweed militia has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million. Amnesty International says 170,000 refugees from Darfur have fled into Chad.

The EU priority, however, was to ensure the United Nations gets a 26,000-strong "hybrid" African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur in place and to get both sides of the conflict to stick to a cease-fire and continue peace talks, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday.

"The most important thing for us now is to get ready for the deployment of the hybrid force," Solana said.

The interim EU peacekeeping operation would be a companion effort.

A 7,000-member African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting in Darfur and the conflict has spilled into the Central African Republic as well as Chad. Both countries have also faced attacks from rebels inside their borders.

The British-based international aid group GOAL UK said it was surprised that the EU moved to plan for a mission in Chad and not in Darfur.

"This initiative is not dealing with the core problem. Certainly, the flood of refugees into Chad from Darfur is a humanitarian tragedy but it is not the critical issue of the Darfur conflict," said John O'Shea, head of the group.

"It is in Darfur itself where people are suffering in huge numbers. Why hasn't the EU got the courage to send troops there?"

In Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir concluded a three-day visit to the western Darfur region, his first since the conflict began in early 2003.

Al-Bashir, who has been implicated by the international community in genocide in Darfur, played down the troubles throughout his visit. He said the region was now safe and peaceful and denied assessments by international aid groups and foreign media that violence was worsening.

Al-Bashir's government denies accusations that most of the atrocities against civilians in Darfur were committed by the janjaweed, a militia of largely Arab nomads unleashed by the government against the rebels and the ethnic African tribes they hail from.

But the International Criminal Court in The Hague recently issued arrest warrants against a Cabinet minister and a suspected janjaweed chief on 51 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.