AU OBSERVERS' FINDINGS - need to be publicised for the whole world to know: Sudan hinders African mission to protect Darfur

Now Sudan says it is willing to allow in more Darfur observers.

It's no wonder Sudan is not opposing additional monitors and does not object to the deployment of more foreign cease-fire monitors and protection troops for Darfur. According to a report in today's UK Telegraph, it's a farce what is going on with the present observers in Sudan.

The Telegraph's report is most telling on what it is like on the ground for the present observers, and confirms that Sudan is hindering them from carrying out their mission to protect Darfur.

Note the report says [bold emphasis is mine]: "a friend of Cdr Steyn's criticised the AU for not publicising the observers' findings - "The world needs to know so pressure is put on the government," he said."

Perhaps any news of more observers into Sudan is not as good it sounds as they will end up as hamstrung as the present mission (or any peacekeeping mission - see last paragraph here below).

The Telegraph's report is copied here in full incase it disappears into archives or link becomes broken. Please pass on the latest news for all the world to know.

Sudan 'hinders African mission to protect Darfur' by Benjamin Joffe-Walt at Al-Fashir Military Airfield (Filed: 05/09/2004):

The troops were ready, the mission decided and the flight crew was standing by, but the African Union ceasefire monitors still lacked one vital element. "The Sudanese say there is no fuel," said one of the soldiers waiting to board. "They say there's a fuel problem whenever they want to keep us on the ground. They don't want us to see. It's a big ceasefire violation."

Not for the first time, soldiers sent from neighbouring African countries were being prevented by the Sudanese from fulfilling their mission: to ensure that Khartoum is honouring its pledge to rein in the Arab militias that have brought terror and misery to Darfur.

Hours later, as a Sudanese army attack helicopter came in to land, its own mission complete, the "shortage" was suddenly resolved. Fuel trucks that had sat all the while on the other side of the fence lumbered towards the aircraft, chartered to carry the troops on observation missions across the region.

Although the 120-strong contingent of African Union (AU) troops has been on the ground for only a few weeks, a pattern of obstruction by Sudanese officials has been established. "We're always fighting about these fuel issues," said William Molokwane, a South African intelligence officer. "We are supposed to know about these Sudanese movements, attack helicopters flying in and out of the airport, troops moving out of the city."

Instead the observers expend time negotiating with the authorities, while Sudanese troops deploy with impunity. So when the helicopter finally returned, there was no way of knowing what it had done.

There were suspicions, however, that some kind of attack mission may have been carried out, as Sudanese officials lined up to welcome the 30 returning soldiers.

"They're not acting in good faith," said Col Anthony Amedoh, the Ghanaian chief military observer. "There are many clear ceasefire violations by the Sudanese government but we can't stop them, we can just report them."

Even when the Sudanese are caught in the act, the AU observers are powerless to stop them. In Nyala, the biggest city in Darfur, a Nigerian observer reported that his team saw Sudanese government soldiers fighting alongside the Janjaweed militia at a large refugee camp.

"We caught them fighting together red-handed," he said. His team could do nothing, however. "Aside from a small protection force there are absolutely no arms here," Mr Molokwane said. "If something happens now, what can we do?" Barry Steyn, a South African commander responsible for investigating ceasefire complaints in Nyala, the area of Darfur with most violence, said: "In traditional peacekeeping there is a line, and if either side crosses that line the peacekeeper fights back. But there are no lines and borders here and we don't directly intervene so it's a very difficult mission."

Any distinction between the government and militia forces was fiction, he said. "You don't know who's who. The government, Janjaweed, they all wear the same thing."

A friend of Cdr Steyn's criticised the AU for not publicising the observers' findings. "The world needs to know so pressure is put on the government," he said.

The task is frustrated by the presence in each observer team of representatives of both the Sudanese government and rebel movements. "We are all friends," the Sudanese representative said with a sleazy smile during a helicopter ride. The rebel next to him stared despondently at the floor. The tension is overt, a game of bickering and convivial posturing for the cameras.

"It's challenging because I have to mediate all the time," said Steven Saidu, the Ghanaian commander on the helicopter. "When it's not in one of the parties' favour they start fighting."

Cdr Steyn said that neither the rebels nor the government should be among the observers. "Everyone must sign each investigative report, so we have to water down everything because we have warring parties on the team," he said.

None of the team is optimistic about the outlook for Darfur. "We can't make peace - they have to want peace, and I haven't seen anyone that wants to end things," said Cdr Steyn. "The rebels are winning this war. The whole world blames the Janjaweed and government already, so what would they gain by disarming?"

Leo Burman, a Dutch European Union representative with the African Union force, and a veteran of similar operations elsewhere, said: "None of the major peacekeeping operations has succeeded. Gaza, Lebanon, Kosovo, Bosnia, Angola - what did we accomplish? A big waste of money and lives. We'll feel guilty if we do nothing, but actually it doesn't work."
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Update:

Congrats to the AU for being ready to send more troops to Darfur. Nigerian head of State and current chair of the African Union, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday declared the 'willingness' of the continental body to provide more protection forces and observers to the Darfur region 'if solicited'."

Cheers to the Aussies march for Sudan. About 800 people marched through Sydney's CBD today to protest against the worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

Note: tomorrow (Monday Sep 6) is International Sudanese Peace MeetUp day; Sep 12 is the date for protest at the UN building in New York.