Sudan asks UN mission in Darfur to prepare to leave
Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:25pm GMT
* Sudan asks Darfur mission to draw up "exit strategy"
* Says expects departure to take long period of time
* Sudan under fire over mass rape allegations in Darfur
KHARTOUM, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Sudan has asked a joint U.N.-African Union
peacekeeping mission in its western Darfur region to prepare plans to leave,
a senior official said on Friday, amid a dispute between the United Nations
and Khartoum over an alleged mass rape in the area.
Sudan initially refused to let the UNAMID peacekeepers visit a village to
investigate the rape allegations. They were later allowed in and found no
evidence that Sudanese troops had raped about 200 women and girls there, but
the U.N. complained of a heavy military presence during interviews.
"Sudan formally requested - I formally requested - that UNAMID make an exit
strategy. That does not mean it will pack up its things and say goodbye,"
foreign minister under-secretary Abdallah al-Azraq told reporters,
suggesting the mission's departure would take a long time.
Azraq gave no reason for the request but said it had first been submitted a
few weeks ago, before the media reports of mass rape. Sudan has denied any
wrongdoing by its soldiers in Darfur and says the rape allegations are part
of an international plot to mar its image.
A UNAMID spokesman contacted by Reuters could not say whether it had
received the request to draw up an exit strategy.
The U.N. peacekeeping office in New York said a Security Council resolution
passed in August had mentioned an exit strategy as an option. It also said
an assessment would be ready by the end of February for the U.N. Security
Council, which will decide the mission's eventual fate.
UNAMID has been deployed in Sudan's western Darfur region since 2007. Law
and order had collapsed in many places after mainly African tribes took up
arms in 2003 against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, accusing it of
discrimination.
Azraq said Sudan had rejected a fresh U.N. request to visit the village of
Tabit, saying: "We look at this statement as an attempt to create an
atmosphere for further escalation and decisions against Sudan."
Last month, an internal U.N. review said UNAMID had failed to provide U.N.
headquarters in New York with full reports on attacks against civilians and
peacekeepers. The review was ordered after media reports alleged that UNAMID
had deliberately covered up details of deadly attacks.
The conflict in Darfur has killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced
two million, the United Nations says. (Reporting by Maaz Alnugomi; Writing
by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Gareth Jones)