EU to provide air cover to Darfur region

By David Cronin

Date: 04/05/05

THE EU is likely to offer equipment and advice to the peacekeeping efforts in Sudan following a request for help from the African Union (AU).

The humanitarian crisis in the conflict-riven Darfur province is expected to dominate the visit by Alpha Oumare Konare, chairman of the African Union Commission and Mali's former president, to Brussels on 17 May. Last week he asked the EU and NATO to assist the AU-led military force in Darfur, which has been expanded from 3,000 to 7,600 soldiers and police officers.

France, Germany and the UK have informally been discussing a plan on providing air surveillance to the region, where both local rebels and the pro-government Janjaweed militia continue to violate their 2004 ceasefire.

Diplomats say the most likely scenario is that the EU will offer several options to the AU. As well as air surveillance, this could include dispatching police officers to advise on improving security.

The EU's military staff is eager to improve the chain of command in the African military force in Darfur, believing that the current structure lacks coherence and co-ordination. An assessment mission to Sudan in March concluded that the force was only operating at half its full capacity, while just 120 of the 815 civilian police officers envisaged to assist the force had actually been deployed.

Next week the European Parliament is to debate the idea of appointing an EU envoy to Sudan. This suggestion has been mentioned in Brussels circles for some months, though insiders say it has not gathered sufficient momentum to become a reality.

Despite general agreement that the EU should provide a greater contribution to the peacekeeping effort in Sudan, many member states are anxious that the AU should continue to take the lead there.

The Khartoum government has stated that it will not accept non-African troops in Darfur, though it is amenable to logistical support.

Some Africa analysts have urged that the EU should impose an oil embargo on Sudan if it wishes to have leverage with its government. But France and Belgium are strongly opposed to that measure. Total, the Franco-Belgian firm, has major interests in Sudan, holding a 120,000 square km concession in the south. The official French view is that economic sanctions would cause too much hardship for the Sudanese population.

Ulrich Delius, an Africa specialist with the German Society for Threatened Peoples, rejected that position. "Everybody in the human rights community is quite convinced that an oil embargo is the only initiative which could lead to a change of policy by Khartoum," he said. "Its awful military junta will only move if it comes under international pressure."

The International Crisis Group has called on the EU to sponsor a peace process for Darfur. It recommends that an international conference should draw up a plan for negotiations.

The two-year conflict in Darfur has caused 180,000 deaths and uprooted two million people. Humanitarian groups estimate that 10,000 people - mostly civilians - die from its effects every month.

Preview of a visit by Alpha Oumare Konare, chairman of the African Union Commission and Mali's former president, to Brussels on 17 May 2005. Article reports that the EU was likely to offer equipment and advice to the peacekeeping efforts in Sudan following a request for help from the African Union (AU). Alpha Oumare Konare had asked the EU and NATO to assist the AU-led military force in Darfur, which had been expanded from 3,000 to 7,600 soldiers and police officers.

France, Germany and the UK were informally discussing a plan on providing air surveillance to the region, where both local rebels and the pro-government Janjaweed militia continued to violate their 2004 ceasefire.