I would really like to know why they don't ask the UN for help.
African Union asks for NATO's help in Darfur
Wed Apr 27, 1:52 PM ET Mideast - AFP
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The African Union (AU) has asked to start talks with NATO for logistical support in its mission in Sudan's war-torn western Darfur region, an official at the military alliance said.
The request was made in a letter sent to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer by AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.
After receiving the message at NATO's headquarters on Wednesday morning, de Hoop Scheffer quickly informed the permanent representatives of NATO's members who then "agreed that exploratory talks should begin with the AU", Appathurai said.
The request comes ahead of a scheduled meeting on Thursday of senior AU diplomats in Addis Ababa to mull a significant expansion of the pan-African body's operation in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur.
The AU's Peace and Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss the possible expansion of the current mission, perhaps by more than 100 percent, an official at the pan-African body's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital said.
The letter called for "the AU Commission and NATO's general secretariat to begin discussions on the possibility of NATO providing logistical support for the AU in Darfour", Appathurai said.
No date has been set yet for the talks to begin but Konare is to visit NATO headquarters on May 17, the spokesman said.
It was not immediately clear about how NATO would help concretely, but the alliance has large logistics, transport and operating planning capacities at its disposal.
"We are not talking about a significant NATO deployment to Africa", a NATO official said on condition of remaining anonymous.
But the official did rule out a small contingent being sent to the area.
Last week US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that NATO should provide help to alleviate suffering in Sudan's stricken Darfur region, if the AU asked.
"If there is a request, I would hope that NATO would act favourably," Rice said last Thursday in Vilnius at the end of a NATO meeting.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said at the time that Paris preferred the European Union playing a role in Darfur rather than NATO.
The AU now has about 2,200 troops in Darfur protecting AU observers monitoring a shaky ceasefire between Khartoum, its proxy militia and two rebel groups who have been fighting the government for two years.
It already plans to boost the current size of its Darfur mission to 3,320 by the end of May but many have said the expansion should be larger.
Last month, UN humanitarian affairs chief Jan Egeland said there was an urgent need for the expansion to prevent the number of displaced Darfur residents from rising to three or four million from the current two million.
By some estimates, the conflict in Darfur has cost 300,000 lives since early 2003.
African Union asks for NATO's help in Darfur
Wed Apr 27, 1:52 PM ET Mideast - AFP
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The African Union (AU) has asked to start talks with NATO for logistical support in its mission in Sudan's war-torn western Darfur region, an official at the military alliance said.
The request was made in a letter sent to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer by AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.
After receiving the message at NATO's headquarters on Wednesday morning, de Hoop Scheffer quickly informed the permanent representatives of NATO's members who then "agreed that exploratory talks should begin with the AU", Appathurai said.
The request comes ahead of a scheduled meeting on Thursday of senior AU diplomats in Addis Ababa to mull a significant expansion of the pan-African body's operation in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur.
The AU's Peace and Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss the possible expansion of the current mission, perhaps by more than 100 percent, an official at the pan-African body's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital said.
The letter called for "the AU Commission and NATO's general secretariat to begin discussions on the possibility of NATO providing logistical support for the AU in Darfour", Appathurai said.
No date has been set yet for the talks to begin but Konare is to visit NATO headquarters on May 17, the spokesman said.
It was not immediately clear about how NATO would help concretely, but the alliance has large logistics, transport and operating planning capacities at its disposal.
"We are not talking about a significant NATO deployment to Africa", a NATO official said on condition of remaining anonymous.
But the official did rule out a small contingent being sent to the area.
Last week US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that NATO should provide help to alleviate suffering in Sudan's stricken Darfur region, if the AU asked.
"If there is a request, I would hope that NATO would act favourably," Rice said last Thursday in Vilnius at the end of a NATO meeting.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said at the time that Paris preferred the European Union playing a role in Darfur rather than NATO.
The AU now has about 2,200 troops in Darfur protecting AU observers monitoring a shaky ceasefire between Khartoum, its proxy militia and two rebel groups who have been fighting the government for two years.
It already plans to boost the current size of its Darfur mission to 3,320 by the end of May but many have said the expansion should be larger.
Last month, UN humanitarian affairs chief Jan Egeland said there was an urgent need for the expansion to prevent the number of displaced Darfur residents from rising to three or four million from the current two million.
By some estimates, the conflict in Darfur has cost 300,000 lives since early 2003.