The road to Darfur lies in Mugadishu, Somalia - Radio Jijiga

[Somali_Friend]

I hope President Abdullahi Yusuf commit to send 1000 soldiers to Darfur. He has all the capability to do so.

 

This brings Somalia to the world in a hurry and succeed where others have blundered.

 

Show Sudan that its not right its not fair to prevent Somalia from having support Just because Sudan was afraid of preceedence.

 

Its also a slap for those who preach they are "hollier than others", but do not practice it.

 

What do you think.

[nuune]

I hope President Abdullahi Yusuf commit to send 1000 soldiers to Darfur. He has all the capability to do so.

Sometimes it is good to minimize the rubbish you are pouring into this FORUM

[Somali_Friend]

UN upbeat on Darfur force but Sudan has conditions

 

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Minutes after U.N.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed Sudan's acceptance of a

mixed African Union-U.N. force in turbulent Darfur, Khartoum's

U.N. ambassador on Wednesday mapped out a different scenario.

 

Annan briefed the Security Council on a letter from

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in which Khartoum

endorsed a three-step U.N. proposal to gradually strengthen the

understaffed African Union force of 7,000.

 

The third step is a hybrid African Union-United Nations

force. Although the council had authorized up to 22,500 troops

and police, Annan said the numbers would be worked out by an

AU-UN technical team.

 

"The president has accepted the three-phased approach as a

package, and we will have to move ahead and implement it, push

it, and -- even those who have some doubts -- to test it and

push it very quickly," said Annan, who ends 10 years in office

on Sunday.

 

But Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleen, said

that while Khartoum accepted the concept of a "hybrid" force,

"we are not talking about any joint force by the United Nations

and the African Union."

 

He said the United Nations should finance the African

troops and provide "backstopping" such as engineers,

communications and logistical personnel.

 

Abdalhaleen said "the idea" of 20,000 foreign troops had

been dropped and the size of the force was being reassessed.

 

Furthermore, he said that Khartoum saw no need for

thousands of extra troops since its own army and the 7,000

African Union soldiers provided enough security in Darfur,

where at least 200,000 people have died, violence is increasing

and Sudan has been accused of firing on civilians in villages.

 

Whether the United Nations and Sudan are using different

terminology to describe the same situation remains unclear.

 

U.N. plans have focused on African troops on the ground,

augmented by soldiers from other regions, like Asia, if enough

cannot be recruited. But Westerners would be in command centers

and in the air.

 

"This is a challenge for the Sudanese government to prove

to the international community that it means business, that it

stands by the letter that it has written to me," Annan said.

"So we are going to press ahead. And I hope this time there

will not be disappointments."

 

Annan said that the question of the color helmets -- green

for the African Union, blue for the United Nations -- had also

been resolved. U.N. troops can wear blue with an armband from

the African Union, which will name the commander.

 

U.S. SKEPTICAL

 

Several diplomats also were skeptical. The acting U.S.

ambassador, Alejandro Wolff told reporters," The proof of this

will be action on the ground and whether or not we will

actually see a force that can take its place in Darfur to

address the humanitarian crisis there and help deal with the

fighting."

 

But Wolff said that, "If this letter and the commitments

laid out in the letter by the president result in the

deployment of the long-awaited hybrid force of the United

Nations and the African Union -- then indeed it will be a

welcome development."

 

Non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur in early 2003,

accusing the central government of marginalizing the remote

western region on the border with Chad. To quell the revolt,

Khartoum armed militia, who embarked on a campaign of rape,

murder and pillage. Some 2.5 million people have been uprooted

and are now terrorized by rebel factions also.