الرئيس النيجيري أوباسانجو يعلنها بوضوح ( للإنقاذ ) : لا يمكن ان نظل متفرجين علي الإبادة بدارفور

Quote: Nigerian president calls for greater support for African peacekeepers in Darfur The Associated Press Published: October 10, 2006 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said no one wants to stand aside while genocide is committed in Darfur, but that a U.N. peacekeeping mission for the troubled corner of Sudan cannot be deployed without Sudan's cooperation. Until then, Obasanjo said in a speech at African Union headquarters Tuesday, a beleaguered A.U. force now in the region needs more international support. "The great challenge before us now is how to strengthen and sustain the African Union mission in the Sudan until the transition to a U.N. mission with the support and cooperation of the government of Sudan, and while retaining its African ownership and character," the Nigerian leader told diplomats and U.N. and AU officials. "It is not in the interests of Sudan, nor in the interests of Africa, nor indeed in the interests of the world, for us all to stand by and see genocide being developed in Darfur," Obasanjo said. The AU mission was scheduled to wrap up at the end of September and be replaced by a larger U.N. force, but Sudan's leaders fiercely opposed such a move and the AU agreed to stay on until at least the end of the year. The AU has 7,000 men and women in Darfur, a region of 150,000 square miles (388,500 square kilometers), roughly the size of France, where punishing heat and frequent sandstorms take their toll on troops and equipment. The underfunded and ill-equipped AU force has had little success in halting ethnic fighting that has killed at least 200,000 people and chased 2.5 million from their homes since 2003. African leaders have agreed to boost the mission by 4,000 peacekeepers. The current AU force needs US$465 million (about €390 million) a year to operate. Mesfin Vinega, who supervises the AU's Darfur budget, said on Sept. 26 the international community had pledged US$372 million (about €290 million) to help finance a new expanded force until December, although the AU had not yet received any of that money for the mission. Violence in Darfur has been escalating with the U.N. saying 100,000 people have been displaced since May, when the Sudanese army began a large offensive. The ethnic Arab-dominated Khartoum government is alleged to have unleashed ethnic Arab militias, known as janjaweed, against the ethnic African villagers after ethnic African fighters led a rebellion in Darfur. The government denies supporting the janjaweed. The United States accuses the Sudanese government of complicity in genocide. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said no one wants to stand aside while genocide is committed in Darfur, but that a U.N. peacekeeping mission for the troubled corner of Sudan cannot be deployed without Sudan's cooperation. Until then, Obasanjo said in a speech at African Union headquarters Tuesday, a beleaguered A.U. force now in the region needs more international support. "The great challenge before us now is how to strengthen and sustain the African Union mission in the Sudan until the transition to a U.N. mission with the support and cooperation of the government of Sudan, and while retaining its African ownership and character," the Nigerian leader told diplomats and U.N. and AU officials. "It is not in the interests of Sudan, nor in the interests of Africa, nor indeed in the interests of the world, for us all to stand by and see genocide being developed in Darfur," Obasanjo said. The AU mission was scheduled to wrap up at the end of September and be replaced by a larger U.N. force, but Sudan's leaders fiercely opposed such a move and the AU agreed to stay on until at least the end of the year. The AU has 7,000 men and women in Darfur, a region of 150,000 square miles (388,500 square kilometers), roughly the size of France, where punishing heat and frequent sandstorms take their toll on troops and equipment. The underfunded and ill-equipped AU force has had little success in halting ethnic fighting that has killed at least 200,000 people and chased 2.5 million from their homes since 2003. African leaders have agreed to boost the mission by 4,000 peacekeepers. The current AU force needs US$465 million (about €390 million) a year to operate. Mesfin Vinega, who supervises the AU's Darfur budget, said on Sept. 26 the international community had pledged US$372 million (about €290 million) to help finance a new expanded force until December, although the AU had not yet received any of that money for the mission. Violence in Darfur has been escalating with the U.N. saying 100,000 people have been displaced since May, when the Sudanese army began a large offensive. The ethnic Arab-dominated Khartoum government is alleged to have unleashed ethnic Arab militias, known as janjaweed, against the ethnic African villagers after ethnic African fighters led a rebellion in Darfur. The government denies supporting the janjaweed. The United States accuses the Sudanese government of complicity in genocide.