AU will need help in Darfur, warns Haavisto

The African Union mission in Darfur will need UN support if it is to function until the end of the year, the EU’s envoy to Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, has said.

The warning came as the African Union Sudanese government extended the mandate of its 7,000-strong force in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region but only until the end of the year and amid calls for the force to be turned into a UN mission of 20,000 troops. "Under the current situation it will be difficult logistically to run until the end of the year…the outcome has to be something like the African Union supported by the UN," he said.

But Haavisto rejected any suggestion of imposing a UN force saying this would cause "political difficulties" for neighbouring African states contributing troops. "The best option is for continued negotiations for the ‘blue-hatting’ [UN force]," Haavisto said.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Development Commissioner Louis Michel will travel to Sudan within a week to step up the EU’s "political engagement", according to a statement. The visit will be a good time to time for the EU to stress the need for a UN force, Haavisto said. "We need to repeat the facts that we are not speaking about the occupation of a country," he said, referring to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s concerns that a UN force would be seen by Muslim extremists as an invading force.

The prospect of the African Union’s mission coming to an end at the end of the month and Khartoum expelling the force has renewed the focus on the Darfur crisis. Violence has increased since a peace agreement was signed in May and there are fears that a full scale war would break out if international troops pulled out.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for more funds so that provisions can be in place for next January. Gemmo Lodesani, WFP director in Brussels, has asked the EU for €200 million additional funding for humanitarian aid. Access to those most in need is becoming increasingly difficult because of the growing violence, he said. "There is in the order of between 300,000-350,000 people who we were helping with food before and who we are now not able to access."

The EU has so far provided €340 million of humanitarian and food aid in Darfur, as well as €242 million to support the African Union troops.

The African Union mission in Darfur will need UN support if it is to function until the end of the year, the EU’s envoy to Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, has said.