Darfur Can't Wait, African Church Leaders Tell UN

|TOP|The general secretary of the All African Conference of Churches, the Rev Mvume Dandala, has told the African Union that the ongoing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan needs a truly international peace keeping force.

In a letter last week to AU chairperson, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the president of Congo Brazzaville, and to the African Commission chairperson, Omar Konari, Dandala wrote: "Like the rest of the world, we are appalled by the horrendous, disturbing and continuing loss of human life and livelihoods in Darfur.”

The head of the Nairobi-based AACC said that the churches praised the AU for its deployment of peace keeping troops in Darfur as well as for its efforts in organising peace talks on the situation.

Dandala expressed regret, however, that the ongoing violence in Darfur had not been abated despite these efforts, although he remained sympathetic to the AU in the present circumstances, reports Ecumenical News International.

|AD|"You are correct that the small number of troops, as opposed to the vastness of Sudan, coupled with the limitations in terms of funding, have not indeed, made your tasks on the ground to be easy and successful as desired," the letter said.

The United Nations is due to take over the 7,000-strong peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region from the end of September despite continued resistance from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Churches remain adamant, Dandala warned, that the situation in Darfur is too urgent to wait six months for a possible UN multinational peacekeeping force.

"We consider the AU move as a dangerous deference to the government of Sudan, which has failed to fulfil its constitutional obligations to protect the people of Darfur," the letter said.

Meanwhile, the European Union has already earmarked 50 million euros to support the six-month extension of the AU peace keeping mission in Darfur until September.

NATO is also considering further support for troops in the region at the request of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, although it has stressed it will not intervene on the ground.