UN to take Darfur peacekeeping role after peace deal

Quote: AU proposes extending its Darfur mission 10 Mar 2006 12:05:58 GMT Source: Reuters ) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10378228.htm( By C. Bryson Hull and Tsegaye Tadesse ADDIS ABABA, March 10 (Reuters) - The African Union on Friday proposed extending its mission in Darfur until the end of the year to break an impasse over the transfer of peacekeeping duties in Sudan's vast west to U.N. troops. AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare made the recommendation at the start of a meeting of the group's Peace and Security Council, which is under intense international pressure to turn over Darfur peacekeeping to the United Nations despite strong objections from Sudan. He said extending the mission would give the organisation time to persuade Sudan to accept a U.N. presence in Darfur where a three-year-old conflict has displaced more than 2 million people and created a major humanitarian crisis. "I recommend that the Peace and Security Council renew the mandate of the mission for a period of nine months, until Dec. 31," Konare said in a report to the AU council. That would be predicated on funding commitments from AU partners, intensified efforts to push the parties to reach a peace deal at talks in Abuja, Nigeria, and on finding a diplomatic solution to the Chad-Sudan crisis, the report said. The cost of extending the mission from April through December would be $218 million, the report said. The African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) still needs an additional $4.6 million to reach the end of March, it said.