BRIEF: Call for Help in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Alpha Oumar Konare, the head of the African Union Commission, called on Sudan's government today to facilitate the deployment of a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force to Darfur.  He also called on the rebels to rejoin the peace process. 

The current AU peacekeeping force has had problems keeping the peace and Darfuris have been asking for international protection for five years.  A joint AU-UN peacekeeping force was approved in July, but the government has been repeatedly accused of purposely causing delays.    Deployment has finally been agreed to and the AU force is due to hand over power to a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force on January 1. 

Konare stated that the handover is not the end of the African Union force, known as AMIS, "but the beginning of a new phase of hybrid force."  He called on the Khartoum government to help with the logistics of the operation.

For more information, please see:

AFP - AU chief appeals to all sides in Darfur conflict - 24 December 2007

Reuters - African Union urges Sudan to facilitate Darfur force - 24 December 2007

For more information on the Sudan situation, please see the following Impunity Watch reports:Call for Cease-fire in Sudan; Peacekeeping Force in Sudan Possibly Delayed; Threat of War in Sudan; Continued Delays in Deployment of Sudan Hybrid Force;  Sudan Talks Falter; Upcoming Peace Talks in Sudan in Jeopardy; New Atrocities in Darfur; Ceasefire Ends in Sudan; African Union Peacekeepers Attacked in Darfur; Ongoing Conflict in Sudan; ICC Prosecutor Demands Arrests in Sudan; Secretary General Urges Sudan President to Commit to Ceasefire; Peace Talks on Darfur Scheduled for October