SUDAN: Sudan yesterday welcomed plans to bolster beleaguered African peacekeepers in Darfur with United Nations money, equipment and expertise but warned any agreement would not allow the deployment of UN troops.
Humanitarian officials hope that a deal struck in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, would eventually allow UN peacekeepers to operate in a joint mission with the African Union (AU).
Many believe it is the only way to halt the killing in Sudan's troubled western region, where more than 200,000 people have died in 3½ years of fighting.
However, the Sudanese foreign minister insisted the agreement - hammered out by UN, AU, Arab League, Sudanese and other African officials in the early hours of yesterday morning - made no provision for the deployment of UN peacekeepers.
Lam Akol told state-controlled Radio Omdurman: "There should be no talk about a mixed force. What we are discussing and what is agreed upon is an African Union force assisted by the United Nations.
"We have not actually overcome the question of converting the African Union force into a United Nations one."
So far Khartoum has rejected proposals to send more than 20,000 UN peacekeepers to replace an overstretched force of 7,000 African troops.
They have failed to protect Darfur's civil population in a conflict that has already crossed into Chad and is threatening to become a regional war, engulfing the Central African Republic.
Rebels from the farming tribes of Darfur launched a revolt in 2003 against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which they accused of neglecting their interests.
Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed militias - nomadic Arab fighters - in a scorched earth policy directed at villages that supported the rebellion.
Since then two million people have fled their homes for squalid refugee camps.
Details of the latest deal remain vague, according to UN officials, who say it could include sending advisers as well as logistics support and financing to the African force.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who visited Darfur in July, said it was vital for the agreement to be fleshed out and fully implemented.
"While the existing AU force has made a good contribution within the limits of its mandate and resources, it has been clear for a long time that a much stronger peacekeeping force is required to protect Darfur's vulnerable population and allow for the full provision of humanitarian support," he said.
Nowhere is the AU's failure to protect the civilian population more obvious than in El Geneina, the dusty capital of west Darfur.
The town's hospital is still caring for a handful of villagers from Sirba, who are suffering from gunshot wounds inflicted in a Janjaweed attack last week.
They had warned the AU of increasing tension in the area and asked for protection from an attack they feared was imminent.
The AU responded by sending a patrol. But the Nigerian soldiers lacked facilities to stay overnight and left.
Two days later, 35 government trucks and dozens of mounted Janjaweed fighters swept through the village and its surrounding aid camps. At least 13 people died.
Col Garba Ahmed, sector commander of the AU force based in El Geneina, said the agreement would provide much needed relief.
However, he said that improved resources could only go so far when his troops were limited by a weak mandate and the warring parties refused to sign up to peace.
"The best case is more troops, more equipment and an enhanced mandate to help us do our job," he said.
His sector, close to the border with Chad, has become one of the most volatile parts of Darfur.
The conflict has destabilised parts of Chad and the Central African Republic as armed militias forge links with allies irrespective of borders.
Chad is now planning to send troops across the border into the Central African Republic to help it fight off an invasion by Sudanese-backed rebels.
In a speech published yesterday, prime minister Pascal Yoadimnadji called for a general mobilisation of troops.
"We are witnessing a generalised war imposed by the Sudanese government," he said, stepping up the rhetoric and risking escalating the conflict further.
Meanwhile, the UN's most senior humanitarian official was in El Geneina at the end of a two-day trip to Darfur.
Jan Egeland said he hoped the deal would pave the way for a UN deployment.
"So far it is an agreement for the UN to help the AU become more effective," he said.
"Later on I hope that it could be a UN force or a UN-AU force that is well-enough resourced, with a strong enough mandate to protect the civilian population and stop this carnage that we are seeing here in Darfur."