Darfur Displaced say Joint UN-AU Force Needed

Darfuris who fled their homes during a 4-1/2 year revolt are urging a joint U.N.-African Union force to deploy rapidly to protect them from attacks and allow their safe return to their villages.

After months of talks, threats and negotiations, Khartoum finally agreed to the 26,000-strong force, which will incorporate a struggling 7,000 AU force which has failed to stem the Darfur violence.

"There will be no peace here without the international forces," Ahmed Hirs, a resident of Otash camp just north of Nyala town in South Darfur where some 62,000 people fled their homes to seek refuge from rape, looting and killing.

"We have suffered enough. We want peace of mind and this will be possible only if the international forces come," said Adam Mohammed Ahmed, another camp resident.

Ahmed came to Otash almost four years ago following an attack on his village by militia, known locally as Janjaweed, who killed 24 men and six women.

"They burnt down our homes, forcing us to flee," he said.

The militia are accused of some of the worst atrocities against civilians in Darfur. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a junior cabinet minister and a militia leader accused of conspiring in war crimes.

Khartoum says the Janjaweed are bandits and that the ICC has no authority over Sudanese citizens.

The joint mission is expected to fully deploy by next year, but Darfuris say that is too late. "We want them to come immediately," said Yahya Osman.

He lost everything when he fled his village west of Nyala.

They sought refuge in Otash, but say even inside the camp the violence continues. "Just yesterday my brother went out to get food for his children and he was abducted," said Ahmed.

"There are shootings and looting going on in the camp and nobody, including the AU troops, responds to these incidents."

The head of the joint mission, Rodolphe Adada, visited Otash on Friday and met with some 100 tribal leaders and camp residents, who requested his help.

"The Janjaweed abducted 17 members of my family 17 days ago," one man told Adada, asking the diplomat to help return them.

Expectations for the new force are high in the camp.

"We want them to help us get our rights, compensation and to secure our villages," said Osman.

The government has declared Darfur safe for people to return home and has said some 45 percent of those in the camps have gone back, a figure U.N. agencies say they cannot verify.

"They gave them money to persuade them to return. Some people went and then came back because of lack of security," said Osman.

International experts say an estimated 200,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict, which has displaced some 2.5 million people from their homes. Khartoum says only 9,000 people have died in the violence.