Egypt, Algeria, Qatar object to UN peace force for Darfur - Al Qaeda is entrenched in Sudan, UN envoy warns

New York Sun article Al Qaeda Is Entrenched In Sudan, U.N. Envoy Warns by Benny Avni, Staff Reporter, March 1, 2006 - excerpt:

[UN special envoy] Mr Pronk said Sudan sent envoys to capitals of key members of the African Union [AU] and the Security Council to plead with them to reject the transition to a UN force.

One observer familiar with the Addis negotiation, who asked for anonymity, told The New York Sun yesterday that most of the resistance there to a UN force comes from the two members of the AU's peace and security commission who are also members of the Arab League, Egypt, and Algeria. Qatar, which represents the Arabs on the Security Council, also has raised objections.

American ambassador John Bolton said that along with the Sudanese government, the AU, the Arab League, and other concerned groups, America has tried to negotiate a resolution to send a UN force to Darfur to try to "stop the genocide." Addressing Mr al-Bashir's resistance to the idea, Mr Bolton said, "One can only hope that the government of Sudan shares the objective that its own citizens should live."

A spokesman for the American UN mission, Ben Chang, added, "We will expect the Sudanese government, as well as the rebels, to accept and accommodate the UN peacekeeping force once the transition takes place."

But according to Mr Pronk, there is "a lot of talk about Al Qaeda in Khartoum," where the government is spreading conspiracy theories about foreigners trying to turn Sudan into another Iraq or Afghanistan. Sending NATO there without Security Council approval, the way the Clinton administration did in the Balkans, is a "recipe for disaster," Mr. Pronk said.

Citing multiple sources, Mr. Pronk told reporters there is "intelligence information that there are [Al Qaeda] people in Khartoum who have not been there before," and that those people have issued "threats" and "letters," warning of retaliation if the Sudanese people believe their country is invaded by the West.

Khartoum hosted Osama bin Laden in the late '90s, but the Sudanese government has played both sides by supplying America with some intelligence for the war on terror while continuing to raise the Al Qaeda specter as a warning to the West.

Mr Pronk said that unlike failed states like Somalia, Sudan's government has firm control in the country, and that even street demonstrations are orchestrated to the last detail and the crowds "know how far they can go."

Currently, he added, the climate against the UN in Khartoum "is heating up," and therefore it would be "foolish not to take such warnings [of Al Qaeda attacks against a UN force] seriously."

Photo: Libya's LJBC News says Libya's leader Col Gaddafi and Egypt's leader President Mubarak held a meeting yesterday [Tuesday afternoon Feb 28] in Libya where the two reviewed the latest developments related to Darfur. The meeting was also attended by Maj. Gen. Mustafa Mohamed al-Kharobi. They reviewed the march of the African Union and international and regional issues of common interest. President Mubarak informed about the results of his tour of a number of the Gulf states.

Messrs Gaddafi and Mubarak continued their talks on these topics during the lunch banquet hosted by the Libyan leader in honour of President Mubarak. This meeting was attended by the accompanying delegation of President Mubarak which included, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Information, Industry and Trade, Minister, Omar Sulaiman and the Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation.



Photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (R) and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (L) walk to the opening session of the third African Summit at Tripoli in Darfur, Sudan May 16, 2005. (Reuters/ST)

See Feb 28 2006 Egypt, Libya leaders reject UN Darfur force