SUDAN: Bashir "refuses" UN force, despite Chinese mediation

BEIJING, 3 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir reaffirmed on Friday his opposition to a United Nations peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, despite mediation by China's president, Hu Jintao.

"We refuse to accept the entry of UN peacekeepers into Sudan because the impact of our refusal is better than the impact of our acceptance," Bashir said, speaking in Arabic at a news conference at Sudan’s embassy in the Chinese capital of Beijing. "We dare not think of what the consequences would be of them being there."

Bashir, in Beijing for a major summit of Chinese and African leaders, said UN involvement in Sudan would be equivalent to the United States’ presence in Iraq.

He added that war in Darfur only affected seven regions, and the number people who had died because of the fighting had not exceeded 10,000. Darfur’s main problems, he went on, were public health-related and similar to those found in the rest of Sudan.

The fighting in Darfur began in 2003, pitting the Sudanese army and allied Arab militias against rebel groups who said they had taken up arms to fight for greater autonomy for the western Sudanese region.

Aid agencies and human rights groups estimate that some 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, while 2.5 million people have fled their homes because of massacres, mass rape, looting and village burning.

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, 218,000 predominantly Sudanese women and children have also fled into eastern Chad which borders Darfur. They have been living in refugee camps for the last four years.

With a 40 percent stake in Sudan’s oil fields, China has moved aggressively to fill the gap left by departing US and Canadian companies that have divested from Sudan in protest at the war in Darfur.

Western diplomats at the UN said China provides diplomatic cover for Sudan at the Security Council, where China is one of five veto-wielding permanent members. It was China’s refusal to agree to the resolution authorising peacekeepers for Darfur that led to the inclusion of a clause requiring Khartoum’s consent first, diplomats said.

On Thursday, Bashir met Chinese President Hu Jintao who said he "understands" Sudan’s decision to refuse UN peacekeepers.

"The Chinese side admires and supports Sudan in the realisation of north-south peace and is willing to participate in the rebuilding," China Central Television (CCTV) quoted Hu as telling Bashir.

"China understands the concerns of the Sudan government on this issue, and hopes that Sudan can maintain dialogue with all sides, adjust its position, and strengthen efforts to reach a proper resolution to maintain a stable situation in Darfur, and continue to improve the humanitarian situation," Hu said in the bilateral meeting.

China was willing to make efforts to bring lasting peace and stability to Darfur, he added.

Bashir said Sudan appreciated China’s insistence that the Security Council only deploy a peacekeeping force with Khartoum’s approval.

"The Chinese side really understands Sudan's position and its considerations behind its refusal," he said.

Chinese officials have previously indicated that China supports better protection for human rights in Sudan, but added that China is using its "own channels" to achieve this.

China has agreed that the UN should have a "more active" role in the issue, but has refused to back any initiatives which go against its bedrock principle of "non-interference" in the internal affairs of other countries.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned militia attacks on eight villages in west Darfur in late October, including a camp set up for 3,500 people who had fled their homes.

Last week, Sudan expelled the UN Secretary-General’s representative in Sudan, Jan Pronk. Human rights groups, the UN, and international media working in Sudan, have all reported that fighting and attacks on civilians have increased in the last two months.