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Key UN council members reject pullout from Darfur
Associated Press
Issue date: 2/4/09 Section: News
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Key U.N. Security Council members rejected Sudanese pressure to withdraw thousands of peacekeepers from Darfur Tuesday, even as the U.S. reported a wave of government air strikes near a rebel-held town.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States is "gravely concerned by reports of intense aerial bombardment" - at least 28 bombing raids Tuesday morning alone - by Sudanese forces on the outskirts of the town in southern Darfur.
Sudan's government on Sunday asked the U.N.-African Union peacekeepers, on a mission known as UNAMID, to leave the town before bombing began, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said they won't go.
While Sudan has regularly challenged the U.N.'s fragile presence in the country, the request was the first of its kind from Sudan, U.N. officials said. U.N. and Sudanese officials meet in Khartoum to discuss the request, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission has said.
Akuei Bona Malwal, Sudan's ambassador to the African Union, said the Sudanese government was requesting - not demanding - that peacekeepers leave.
Thousands of civilians sought refuge with the peacekeeping mission after the aerial bombing raids began Monday.
Ban has urged "maximum restraint" on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and asked the Justice and Equality Movement rebels to withdraw from the town to protect civilians displaced by the six-year civil war in Sudan's arid western region.
But Rice said Sudanese forces were bombing the town of Muhajeria, despite the withdrawal of rebel forces to more than 30 miles away. The rebels seized the town in mid-January.
"The bombardment continues and the government of Sudan has prevented UNAMID personnel from moving into the area to investigate, impeding the freedom of movement of these personnel which is a violation of the status of forces agreement between UNAMID and the government," Rice said.
Rebels in Darfur took up arms in 2003. So far, 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced. Sudanese forces often have bombed rebel areas in Darfur contrary to the council's ban on military flights in the region.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the United States is "gravely concerned by reports of intense aerial bombardment" - at least 28 bombing raids Tuesday morning alone - by Sudanese forces on the outskirts of the town in southern Darfur.
Sudan's government on Sunday asked the U.N.-African Union peacekeepers, on a mission known as UNAMID, to leave the town before bombing began, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said they won't go.
While Sudan has regularly challenged the U.N.'s fragile presence in the country, the request was the first of its kind from Sudan, U.N. officials said. U.N. and Sudanese officials meet in Khartoum to discuss the request, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission has said.
Akuei Bona Malwal, Sudan's ambassador to the African Union, said the Sudanese government was requesting - not demanding - that peacekeepers leave.
Thousands of civilians sought refuge with the peacekeeping mission after the aerial bombing raids began Monday.
Ban has urged "maximum restraint" on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and asked the Justice and Equality Movement rebels to withdraw from the town to protect civilians displaced by the six-year civil war in Sudan's arid western region.
But Rice said Sudanese forces were bombing the town of Muhajeria, despite the withdrawal of rebel forces to more than 30 miles away. The rebels seized the town in mid-January.
"The bombardment continues and the government of Sudan has prevented UNAMID personnel from moving into the area to investigate, impeding the freedom of movement of these personnel which is a violation of the status of forces agreement between UNAMID and the government," Rice said.
Rebels in Darfur took up arms in 2003. So far, 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced. Sudanese forces often have bombed rebel areas in Darfur contrary to the council's ban on military flights in the region.
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