By Edith M Lederer
Britain and Ghana expect to introduce a resolution this week to authorise a joint United Nations-African Union force to help end the four-year conflict in Darfur, Britain's UN ambassador said on Wednesday.
Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he hopes the resolution will be adopted by the UN Security Council "one week from when we put it down," though other council members were not certain about such speedy approval.
The proposed 23 000-strong UN-AU hybrid force is the final phase of a three-stage UN plan to bolster the beleaguered 7 000-strong AU force now in Darfur.
The current force has been unable to stop fighting between ethnic African rebels and the pro-government janjaweed militia that has killed more than 200 000 people and displaced 2,5 million.
Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir agreed to the package in November but stalled acceptance of the first two phases and backtracked on allowing UN troops in Darfur until April. Earlier this month, the Sudanese government agreed to deployment of the hybrid force.
Jones Parry told the Security Council on Tuesday that during June 17 meetings with council members in Khartoum, Al-Bashir and other top officials expressed "total unconditional acceptance" of the hybrid force. "We will hold him to what he told us," Jones Parry told AP.
Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi briefed the Security Council on Wednesday on preparations for the hybrid operation now that there is an agreement between the AU, UN and Sudan. He said a meeting for potential troop contributors will be held here on Friday.
Pressed later about published reports that Al-Bashir was now saying Sudan would not accept any Western troops in the hybrid force, Annabi told reporters: "We should all decide to have some hearing problems, because reacting to this or that statement may not be helpful."
"What we need to focus on now is implementation and deeds rather than words," he said.
The UN and the AU have pledged to make every effort to find African troops for the hybrid force, but the agreement says if they cannot they will have to use personnel from other countries - and no country is ruled out.
Annabi told reporters that council members wanted a precise timeline for deployment of the hybrid force, but he said he could not give them one "because a lot of factors are not in our hands."
"We do not control, for example, the simple fact of whether we will find enough water soon enough to build dams and then deploy people," he said. "We do not control the speed at which troop contributors will make offers for the hybrid, or will be ready to deploy with the necessary equipment."
"What I said to the council today is that we hope that we can start deploying this operation within six months from the day a resolution and a mandate are adopted by the Security Council, because it does take time," Annabi said.
The first phase of the UN plan was a "light support package" being delivered for the AU force. In April, Sudan agreed to the second phase, a "heavy support package," which will pave the way for the hybrid operation.
Annabi said the UN peacekeeping department has offers for everything it needs for the "heavy support package," which includes including 3 000 UN troops, police and civilian personnel along with aircraft and other equipment, and is trying to expedite deployment.
When the "heavy support package" deploys, 2 200 U.N. military personnel and several hundred international police will join the 7 000 AU troops on the ground in Darfur, Annabi said.
That means for the hybrid force, about 15 000 additional people will be needed - 10 000 troops and 5 000 support units and other personnel, he said. - Sapa-AP