By Opheera McDoom
Mukjar, Sudan - Local women ululated in delight when the commander of the joint UN-African Union force in West Darfur promised to protect them.
But they also told him they were running out of patience after years of suffering in the devastated region.
The new peacekeeping force took over in December 31 after considerable resistance from the government in Khartoum and so far only 9 000 soldiers and police are on the ground out a planned strength of 26 000.
But it has aroused huge expectations among the more than 2-million Darfuris who have fled their homes during five years of rape, murder and looting in Sudan's west.
"It's a big problem and you need to be patient because it will take time to bring all these soldiers on the ground," Balla Keita, commander of one of three Darfur sectors, told Darfuris from the Fur tribe, the region's biggest.
About 23 000 people who fled their villages have sought refuge in the town of Mukjar, which lies south of West Darfur's capital el-Geneina.
They told Keita that they wanted the new joint force, known as UNAMID, to mount an effective operation to protect internally displaced persons (IDPs), as the refugees are called.
"We want UNAMID to be at the gates of Mukjar to protect the IDPs," said local leader Ibrahim Khalil. "We want a UNAMID office inside the IDP camp."
"When people go to get firewood outside they need to be protected," said another leader, Mohamed Abdallah.
The Darfuris had had little time for the African Union, which has been integrated into the UNAMID mission. Many in Darfur rejected a May 2006 peace deal mediated by the African Union and felt the AU force was biased against them.
The Fur tribes people support rebel Sudan Liberation Army founder Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, who rejects the AU.
They registered their frustration at the AU mission's failure to protect them by burning down AU posts in several refugee camps.
But they appeared to have been won over by Keita's comments, with local leaders all murmuring in agreement with him and expressing hopes for a fresh start.
Keita is struggling with unpaid soldiers and a lack of equipment. But he said he was pressing his soldiers to do more to protect the Darfuris, even if resources are lacking.
"You push to the limit and when you reach the limit then you can stop," he told his forces in Mukjar. "I'm your boss and I can understand when you are moving and when you're not moving."
He berated the soldiers for not marking burned villages or refugee camps on their operational maps. They complained they did not have the right pens to do it, an excuse he did not want to hear.
"A soldier cannot work without a plan," he said.
Keita's message was clear. The bumbling attitude of the old African Union mission was no longer going to be tolerated in the new UNAMID.
Keita told the Darfuris that the AU had been limited by its mandate to playing a monitoring role while UNAMID was authorised to protect civilians, and under his watch would do so.
"At the end stage we will be able to give you 90 percent protection," Keita said, adding that 100 percent was not possible. "The international community is committed to protecting you."
It will not be an easy task. He cannot even get spare tyres for his Canadian-supplied Armoured Personnel Carriers, while Darfuris made clear their patience would not last forever.
"We have suffered for five years," one elderly woman told the commander.