Darfur force 'to be all-African'

Darfur force 'to be all-African'

African Union (AU) chairman Alpha Oumar Konare says enough African troops have been promised to a Sudan peacekeeping force for no outside help to be needed.

He said African countries can provide the 26,000 peacekeepers needed for the combined AU-United Nations force. The AU already has 7,000 troops in Darfur.

The UN had expected to call on Asian troops. Critics say Africa lacks enough trained troops for an effective force.
Sudan's government has long opposed the involvement of non-African soldiers.
Viable(可行的, 能生存的)plan?
Speaking after talks in Khartoum with the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Mr Konare said: "I can confirm today that we have received sufficient commitments from African countries that we will not have to resort to non-African forces."

He added that the "ball is now in the court of the UN" to provide funding for the force.
Mr Bashir, who has long argued that a UN-backed force would be a violation of Sudan's sovereignty and could worsen the situation there, backed Mr Konare's plan.

"(We) support the AU force, which consolidates the efforts of the Sudanese government to ensure security, peace and stability in Darfur," he said after their meeting.

Mr Konare did not give a breakdown of the countries offering to supply more personnel, leading correspondents to question the viability of an all-African force.

The BBC's Africa editor, David Bamford, said it was unclear where so many African troops would come from.
Our correspondent questioned whether African nations would have the political commitment to stand alone against the forces seeking to continue to disrupt lives in Darfur.

Deadline looming
Mr Konare's announcement came just days after the UN published a list of Asian countries it said had already committed troops and police officers to a Darfur force.

UN officials said the joint AU-UN force would be "predominantly African", but confirmed that countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh had pledged personnel.

According to a UN resolution, the composition of the force must be decided by 30 August.
At least 200,000 people are believed to have died and more than two million have been left homeless in Darfur since fighting broke out in 2003.

Sudan's Arab government, and the pro-government Janjaweed militias, are accused of war crimes against the region's black African population - although the UN has stopped short of calling it genocide (中古灭绝).