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UN Darfur strategy 'must change' UN 'must drop' Darfur peace force
(about 4 hours later)
Two top UN officials have said the world body's strategy on Sudan's western region of Darfur must change. Top UN officials say the world body must abandon efforts to pressure Sudan to accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur.
Outgoing deputy secretary general Mark Malloch Brown wants a more multilateral approach to solving the issue of deploying peacekeepers in Darfur. UN Sudan envoy Jan Pronk says the existing African Union force should instead be strengthened.
In a separate interview with the AP news agency, the UN's Sudan chief Jan Pronk echoed this stance. Sudan has always argued that the AU should remain in charge of peacekeeping in Darfur, rather than the UN.
Mr Pronk also said he did not expect the government in Khartoum to accept a transition to a UN force any time soon. Outgoing deputy secretary general Mark Malloch Brown has meanwhile said the US and UK's use of "megaphone diplomacy" is almost "counterproductive" in Sudan.
The international community, he said, should instead press for the African Union's mission in Darfur to be prolonged and reinforced. The cash-strapped and poorly equipped AU force currently stationed in Darfur was meant to leave at the end of the month but its mission was recently prolonged until the year's end.
Mission prolonged We're shooting ourselves in the foot each time UN Sudan envoy Jan Pronk The 7,000 AU troops have not been able to stop the conflict, which has worsened in recent months.
In the British newspaper, the Independent, Mr Malloch Brown, referred to what he called megaphone diplomacy coming out of Washington and London, aimed at persuading Sudan to take UN peacekeepers. The UN Security Council has approved sending a larger, better equipped UN peacekeeping force to protect civilians and guarantee the security of aid workers.
He said this was counterproductive - such rhetoric allowed Khartoum to characterise Sudan as the victim of the next crusade, after Iraq and Afghanistan. But this was dependent on Sudan's approval, and Khartoum rejected the resolution.
He said the UN was working on bringing major Arab and African states into frontline diplomacy in this and other crises. 'Crusade victims'
The current African Union force was meant to leave Darfur at the end of this month, but recently prolonged its mission until the end of the year. In an interview with the UK-based Independent newspaper, Mr Malloch Brown said UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush "need to get beyond this posturing and grandstanding".
The move has been described as a temporary measure as international pressure mounts on Sudan to accept a UN peacekeeping force. He said the two leaders' "megaphone diplomacy" was not "plausible".
See which parts of Darfur are too dangerous for aid workersEnlarge Map "Sudan doesn't see a united international community," Mr Malloch Brown said.
He said this meant Khartoum had come to regard itself as the latest front in the "war on terror" - "the victims of the next crusade after Iraq and Afghanistan".
Mr Malloch Brown said major Arab and African states, as well as China, should play a greater role in diplomacy over Darfur.
China and Russia, which have strong trade ties to Sudan, have blocked previous attempts to get a strong UN resolution on Darfur.
'More funds'
Mr Pronk has meanwhile told the Associated Press news agency he does not expect Khartoum to accept UN peacekeepers any time soon.
"The international community should instead push for the African Union's mission to be prolonged and reinforced," Mr Pronk is quoted as saying.
He said the AU force's mandate should be extended indefinitely to ensure relief continued to reach Darfur's refugees.
Mr Pronk is quoted as saying he was certain Khartoum would allow the AU force to stay on in Darfur.
World leaders, he said, must guarantee more funds for the AU so it can carry out necessary peacekeeping work.
"Otherwise, we're shooting ourselves in the foot each time," he said.
"Our first priority must be to help the people of Darfur."
More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003 in violence blamed on rebels and pro-government militia groups.
More than 2 million have been displaced by the fighting.