U.S. is ready to airlift peacekeepers to Darfur

. The U.S. is ready to airlift as many as 4,000 peacekeepers, including Ethiopians and Egyptians who make up the U.N.-African Union mission to Darfur, the U.S. envoy for Africa said Monday.  The mission started deploying in Darfur in January but remains at less than half of the 26,000 authorized to go there. The mission has also complained of Sudanese government stonewalling and transport problems. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, who arrived in Khartoum from a trip to Congo Monday, said the Sudanese government has made “important progress” recently in speeding up the deployment of the peacekeepers, The Associated Press reports. “There has been important progress,” Frazer said. “But we are looking to get at least 3,000 to 4,000 (peacekeepers) in Darfur. We certainly have offered the U.N. to help do airlift if they need to bring in both troops and to move equipment.” Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor said the United States’ offer to help ferry more troops and equipment into Darfur was first made in September, during Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha’s visit to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly. After Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was accused of genocide in Darfur in July, Sudanese authorities eased some procedures including issuing visas for promised troops. The move was an apparent response to Western demands for cooperation with the international community. Al-Bashir has dismissed the charges brought against him by the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. He says his country won’t recognize the tribunal, but his government is also lobbying supporters and others to freeze the international prosecution.

TAGS: Darfur, Peacekeepers, Sudan, U.S.

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