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 -------------- ¶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