February 11, 2009 5:02 PM
- Text
U.N. Hopeful, Democrats Restless On Darfur
(CBS/AP)
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is encouraged by a recent agreement with Sudan's president to beef up the African Union force in Darfur with U.N. troops, police and equipment and hopes to clear up "misunderstandings" about the one remaining issue — deployment of U.N. helicopter gunships.
Ban told reporters Thursday the United Nations has been trying to assure the Sudanese government that the attack helicopters are "not for any offensive purpose" because the 7,000-strong AU force is in Darfur on a peacekeeping mission and that will be the U.N.'s role as well.
"But when you deploy troops you need to have ... mobility with some capacity to deterrence," he said, and the helicopters are "just a standard implement to which they should have no concern."
In Washington, however, some Senate Democrats have increased the volume of their call for a more aggressive military intervention in the Darfur crisis.
Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Democratic presidential candidate, called Wednesday for the use of military force in the region.
"I would use American force now," Biden said at a hearing before his committee. "I think it's not only time not to take force off the table. I think it's time to put force on the table and use it."
In advocating use of military force, Biden said senior U.S. military officials in Europe told him that 2,500 U.S. troops could "radically change the situation on the ground now."
"Let's stop the bleeding," Biden said. "I think it's a moral imperative."
Under U.N.-backed agreements approved last fall, a hybrid force of 22,000 African Union and U.N. peacekeepers are to be deployed in Darfur to protect and provide relief for 2.5 million Darfurians who have been forced from their homes and are now confined to camps.
The undermanned and under-equipped AU force has been unable to stop violence in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been in nearly four years of fighting between the government and ethnic African rebels.
The violence has only increased since a peace deal last year signed by the government and one rebel group. Other rebel groups rejected the deal and continued fighting.
The Bush administration has always rejected use of military force in Darfur, partly because of a possible outcry, particularly in Muslim countries about hostile U.S. action in yet another Islamic country on the heels of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Andrew Natsios, the special U.S. envoy to Sudan, said the U.S. has agreed to a request by Secretary-General Ban for a two- to four-week delay in imposing unilateral sanctions against Sudan, so negotiations can continue on Sudan's acceptance of the deployment of international peacekeepers.
The United Nations and Sudan agreed in November on a three-stage plan to strengthen the AU force, to culminate with the deployment of a joint AU-U.N. force with 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. But Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has since backed off the deal, saying he would only allow a larger AU force, with technical and logistical support from the United Nations.
The first phase, a light support package including U.N. police advisers, civilian staff and additional resources and technical support, has already been sent to Darfur.
At a meeting last month on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ban and al-Bashir reached an agreement to work out differences on the second stage heavy support package at a meeting Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ban told reporters Thursday the United Nations has been trying to assure the Sudanese government that the attack helicopters are "not for any offensive purpose" because the 7,000-strong AU force is in Darfur on a peacekeeping mission and that will be the U.N.'s role as well.
"But when you deploy troops you need to have ... mobility with some capacity to deterrence," he said, and the helicopters are "just a standard implement to which they should have no concern."
In Washington, however, some Senate Democrats have increased the volume of their call for a more aggressive military intervention in the Darfur crisis.
Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Democratic presidential candidate, called Wednesday for the use of military force in the region.
"I would use American force now," Biden said at a hearing before his committee. "I think it's not only time not to take force off the table. I think it's time to put force on the table and use it."
In advocating use of military force, Biden said senior U.S. military officials in Europe told him that 2,500 U.S. troops could "radically change the situation on the ground now."
"Let's stop the bleeding," Biden said. "I think it's a moral imperative."
Under U.N.-backed agreements approved last fall, a hybrid force of 22,000 African Union and U.N. peacekeepers are to be deployed in Darfur to protect and provide relief for 2.5 million Darfurians who have been forced from their homes and are now confined to camps.
The undermanned and under-equipped AU force has been unable to stop violence in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been in nearly four years of fighting between the government and ethnic African rebels.
The violence has only increased since a peace deal last year signed by the government and one rebel group. Other rebel groups rejected the deal and continued fighting.
The Bush administration has always rejected use of military force in Darfur, partly because of a possible outcry, particularly in Muslim countries about hostile U.S. action in yet another Islamic country on the heels of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Andrew Natsios, the special U.S. envoy to Sudan, said the U.S. has agreed to a request by Secretary-General Ban for a two- to four-week delay in imposing unilateral sanctions against Sudan, so negotiations can continue on Sudan's acceptance of the deployment of international peacekeepers.
The United Nations and Sudan agreed in November on a three-stage plan to strengthen the AU force, to culminate with the deployment of a joint AU-U.N. force with 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. But Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has since backed off the deal, saying he would only allow a larger AU force, with technical and logistical support from the United Nations.
The first phase, a light support package including U.N. police advisers, civilian staff and additional resources and technical support, has already been sent to Darfur.
At a meeting last month on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ban and al-Bashir reached an agreement to work out differences on the second stage heavy support package at a meeting Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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