Saturday, April 12, 2008
South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, who is to co-lead the council mission with his British counterpart, told reporters that the tour, tentatively set from May 31 to June 10, was expected to cover Somalia, Sudan, including Darfur, Chad, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He said he was quite keen on a stop in restive Somalia despite reservations expressed by UN security experts in view of the volatile situation in the lawless Horn of Africa country. “I am still very firm” on going to Somalia, said Kumalo, whose country has pushed for greater UN involvement in the country. Among options being considered by the 15-member council are relocating Nairobi-based UN personnel dealing with Somalia to Mogadishu, boosting the UN presence in Mogadishu and other areas of south and central Somalia, or deploying up to 28,500 UN troops and police provided there is “a viable and inclusive political process and an agreement on the cessation of hostilities.” Diplomats said the council team also planned to visit Sudan, including Khartoum and al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and headquarters of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur (UNAMID). Khartoum has been dragging its feet on allowing key non-African forces to serve with UNAMID, which currently has only around 9,000 troops on the ground. UNAMID is eventually to total 26,000 members tasked with protecting the civilian population of a region the size of France which has been mired in civil strife between ethnic minority rebels and the Khartoum government. Source: AFP, April 12, 2008