Sudan asks African force to leave Darfur by Sept. 30

3 September 2006
Reuters

KHARTOUM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Sudan has asked African Union forces monitoring a shaky truce in its violent Darfur region to leave the country when their mandate ends on Sept. 30, a spokesman said on Sunday.

"We are asking them to leave since they indicated that they will not be able to continue their mission," said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jamal Ibrahim. "This is a final decision."

Sudan has defiantly refused international requests for a U.N. takeover of the cash-strapped and ill-equipped AU mission in Darfur, which has been unable to stem the violence which has increased since an AU-brokered peace deal in May.

Khartoum rejected a Security Council resolution passed on Thursday to deploy more than 20,000 U.N. troops and police to its remote west, setting it on a path of confrontation with the world body.

Ibrahim said Sudan resented AU declarations that it supported a U.N. transition.

"We feel that they have no right to transfer their assignment to another party -- we are the ones who decide whether we continue with the AU or not," he said.

An AU spokesman said it had not been informed officially of any such decision and declined to comment.

Ibrahim said Sudan was still committed to the May peace accord signed by only one of three negotiating rebel factions. Tens of thousands of Darfuris have rejected the deal and even attacked AU forces, who some say are no longer objective.

He said the government would implement its plan for Darfur submitted to the Security Council, which includes sending 10,500 government troops to the region.

Rebels who did not sign the deal say those troops have already deployed and have begun attacking civilians and their positions on North Darfur. The AU has confirmed that an offensive began last week ahead of the Security Council resolution.

Tens of thousands have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing the central government of marginalising the arid west.

Washington calls the violence genocide, a charge Khartoum rejects. The international criminal court is investigating alleged war crimes in the region.