Annan sees up to 24,000 UN peacekeepers for Darfur

Kofi Annan

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed a large and highly mobile peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region, numbering up to 24,000 troops and international police officers.

The requirements for the force, which would surpass the 17,500-strong UN force in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the largest UN peacekeeping mission, were outlined in a report to the UN Security Council, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

Sudan's government has yet to approve deployment of a UN force to succeed a smaller and under-equipped African Union force of about 7,700 soldiers and civilian police.

The 15-member Security Council can approve the force without Sudan's approval but it is doubtful any country would contribute troops without Khartoum's consent.

"Securing the consent of the government of Sudan will require continued intensive discussions with Khartoum by council members, by key member states and regional organizations, as well as by the United Nations," Annan said, calling for a shift to a UN force "as soon as possible."

Darfur violence 'shocked the world'

After more than three years of fighting among Sudanese factions in Darfur, "marked by abhorrent violence against innocent civilians that has shocked the world," the cost of rejecting an eventual transition to a UN peacekeeping mission "could be serious and lasting," Annan warned.

Tens of thousand of people have died in the violence that escalated in early 2003 when rebels rose up against the Khartoum government complaining of a lack of resources. Sudan then armed militia, known as Janjaweed, who began a campaign of rape, plunder and murder against non-Arab tribes.

More than 2.3 million villagers have been been uprooted and more recently, rebels are fighting each other, adding to the misery.

Annan said the UN mission would require an initial deployment of up to 3,300 police officers plus 16 trained units of riot police, typically of 125 officers each, for a total of as many as 5,300 officers.

With the officers to be deployed at over 100 sites, covering about 80 per cent of Darfur's population, "this would be a minimum option," he said.

As for UN troops, the force would seek to protect refugee camps, humanitarian supply routes and nomadic migration routes via a "framework of mobile infantry battalions," Annan said, outlining three options ranging from 15,300 to 18,600 soldiers, depending on the number of aircraft to accompany them.

The best option, he said, would be to deploy 17,300 peacekeeping soldiers along with three fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft and 26 helicopters.

"This force represents an optimal balance of key operational capabilities and likely offers the fastest route to a secure environment and eventual return to normality."

Should just 13 helicopters be made available, the force would require about 18,600 troops and would be less capable of responding to multiple security incidents by air, "possibly delaying the return to normality and peace."

Should the force be equipped with 35 helicopters, it could get along with about 15,300 troops by relying more heavily on rapid-reaction forces while "sacrificing some security presence," Annan said.

The smaller force would be more vulnerable to bad weather and would carry "a higher degree of risk on protection of civilians," he said.

- REUTERS