SUDAN/DARFUR: President Bashir Voices Strong

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001458

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO SOCI AL UN SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN/DARFUR: President Bashir Voices Strong
Objection to UN Peacekeeping Operation

1. Summary. In the past two days, President Bashir has
spoken out in harsh and negative terms against a UN PKO
presence in Darfur. The language is very combative, even
for Bashir. End Summary.


2. President Omar al-Bashir has voiced his strong
opposition on June 20 to any deployment of international
forces in Darfur, labeling such a move foreign
occupation. In response to a question posed at a joint
press conference in Khartoum with South African President
Mbeki, he stated, "The right question should be: why
should international forces come into Darfur, what are
the reasons for such an intervention? The UN Security
Council decided on deployment of international forces in
Darfur under Chapter VII after we have reached a peace
agreement that has ended a crisis the West has branded as
the worst humanitarian crisis in the world."


3. Bashir added, "We know everything...we know their
agenda...we have our own bugging and monitoring systems
through which we ascertained that those forces are coming
with a colonial agenda, they are coming not for keeping
peace but to remain in Darfur as forces of occupation.
There is no person in the world who tolerates the
occupation of his country," Bashir added, charging that
the UN Security Council "should have consulted us before
taking its resolution."

4. President Mbeki said the AU "should continue
discharging its mandate in Darfur while the UN may assist
in a way that is acceptable to the Sudanese government."
Mbeki dismissed a suggestion that he had paid the visit
to Khartoum to convince the government of Bashir to
accept deployment of international forces in Darfur,
stating, "I did not come for this purpose but it was
mentioned among other issues we have discussed."
--------------
UN Troops Equivalent to Colonization Forces
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5. Bashir also is quoted on June 20 as saying that
sending UN troops to Sudan under Chapter VII of the
Security Council would mean receiving colonizing forces
in place of forces for maintaining security and
stability. According to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA),
Bashir said sending UN forces appears to be an objective
in itself rather than a means to achieve security and
stability in Darfur, outlining a purported colonization
agenda Western states hide. Bashir wondered about the
provision of funding for those forces, which need
billions of dollars, while the UN was unable to come up
with the ten thousand troops stipulated in Southern Sudan
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, or to provide food
assistance to the needy in Darfur as acknowledged by Jan
Egeland of the UN when he recently visited the area.


6. Bashir said that, despite the improvement of the
situation as recognized by the UN and the AU as well as
humanitarian organizations, Sudan kept on hearing reports
of serious deterioration of the situation in Darfur and
about ethnic cleansing, stating that this intensive
campaign and the marches and the protest organized in
American were actually headed by Jewish peace and
security organizations with vested interests known to the
Sudan and its people. He said being a member of the UN,
Sudan should have been consulted and talked with
regarding a potential role for the UN in peacekeeping
before planning to dispatch troops. He said the Sudan is
keen to see the success of the AU mission at the regional
level.


7. Bashir said Sudan was keen to see the success of the
AU in Darfur, as this was the first mission for the union
in trying to resolve African problems. The president
said the coming six months would demonstrate a change in
the situation in Darfur, which would no longer need UN or
African forces.

HUME