Annan Hopes Pressure Sways Sudan Leader

By Edith M. Lederer
June 28, 2006
The Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062800345.html

UNITED NATIONS (AP)-- Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed hope that pressure at an African Union summit will persuade Sudan's president to drop his opposition to a U.N. peacekeeping force in conflict-wracked Darfur.
Annan said he plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at the summit this weekend in the Gambian capital, Banjul. He said other African leaders were also anxious to talk to al-Bashir about a U.N. takeover of AU-led peacekeeping in the vast western region.
I hope the collective pressure will make a difference, the secretary-general told reporters Tuesday.
Al-Bashir has said the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers will never take place while he is president, insisting that U.N. troops want to use Sudan to start colonizing Africa again. He blamed Jewish organizations for pushing for a U.N. force.
Despite al-Bashir's opposition, Annan said he is not giving up, especially since the African Union has said it cannot handle long-term peacekeeping in Darfur and wants its 7,000-strong force replaced by better-equipped and better-funded U.N. peacekeepers.
In politics, words like `never' and `forever' do not exist, Annan told reporters. We have seen leaders say lots of things, but they also find reasons and ways to adapt, to shift, to change direction, and often forget that they have used the word `never.'
The secretary-general also appealed to members of the U.N. Security Council to bring their collective and individual pressure to bear ... not just on the Sudanese government to cooperate and support the deployment but also on all rebel factions to sign the Darfur Peace agreement.
The government and one faction of the Sudan Liberation Army signed the May 5 agreement, but another faction and the separate Justice and Equality Movement have refused to sign.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said African Union members should pressure al-Bashir to comply with the peace agreement and support a U.N. force. He said the United States would decide on its next steps after the AU summit.
Annan and Bolton spoke to reporters after a closed-door briefing to the council by Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno, who just returned from a two-week assessment mission to Darfur with the African Union's peace commissioner, Said Djinnit.
Guehenno said the AU mission _ which won't be replaced until early 2007 even if the Sudanese government gives its approval _ must be strengthened immediately because the situation in Darfur remains very fragile.
The U.N. and the AU agree that three brigades should be deployed in Darfur so the situation doesn't deteriorate, he said, adding that the Sudanese government has not objected to beefing up the AU force. That would mean adding about 3,500 new troops, bringing the AU force to about 10,500.
The Darfur conflict began in early 2003 when members of ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government. Sudan's government is accused of responding by unleashing Arab militias known as the Janjaweed who have been blamed for the worst atrocities. Khartoum denies any involvement, but has committed to disarming the Janjaweed under the peace deal.
The fighting has left some 180,000 people dead, rendered 2 million homeless and has spilled across the border into Chad.