EU, U.S. push Sudan for U.N. mandate in Darfur

By Ingrid Melander 
March 8, 2006
Reuters
Original Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08586135.htm

BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters) - Western powers on Wednesday sought to persuade Sudan to agree to a weak African Union peacekeeping force being turned into a more robust U.N. mission to stop killing in the Darfur region, an EU official said. 
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Development Commissioner Louis Michel began a day of meetings with African Union and Sudanese leaders as well senior United Nations and U.S. officials. Pressure is mounting for greater Western involvement to end violence and a humanitarian crisis in Darfur. 
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Darfur, in western Sudan, begun three years ago by mostly non-Arab rebels accusing Khartoum of neglect. Rape, killing and looting have driven 2 million from their homes. 
Talks kicked off with a working breakfast between Solana and the Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha. 
Taha is a key player in the Sudanese government ... We hope he hears the message on shifting to a U.N. mandate, an EU official said. 
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, due to join the talks during the day, said he would push for a U.N. mission. 
We believe that, to the maximum extent possible, the AU forces in Darfur should be incorporated into the U.N. mission in which Africans should play a key leadership role, Zoellick said in a statement before leaving Washington. 
No one party can do it alone -- Africans must play a key role, the Government of National Unity in Sudan must assume responsibility, and the U.N. must be active as well, he added. 
NO EU BOOTS ON GROUND 
At the Security Council's request, U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan has begun planning for a shift from a 7,000-strong AU force to a larger and better equipped U.N. mission for the troubled area. U.N. officials have sought NATO and EU support. 
The African Union will meet on Friday in Addis Ababa to decide whether to hand its mission to U.N. command. Sudan has been lobbying AU states to reject this changeover. 
The EU was also pressing the Sudanese authorities to inject new urgency into stalled negotiations with Darfur rebels in the Nigerian capital Abuja, the official said. 
On the eve of the talks, Solana played down the possibility of European troops getting involved on the ground. 
I'm sure the Africans will prefer to do it themselves, he told a news conference in Innsbruck, Austria, on Tuesday, when asked if he expected European boots on the ground. 
The African Union does not want any, Solana said, adding: If it was the U.N., it could be open. But it is very logical that the bulk of the force will be Africans. 
He noted the EU already pays for 60 percent of the AU operation and could help further with strategic airlift, logistics and communications. 
African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare was also to take part in Wednesday's talks along with Hedi Annabi, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.