UN / DARFUR

Briefing the Security Council today in an open meeting, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, said that while there had been mildly encouraging developments regarding the peace process, a fully inclusive political settlement is yet to be reached. UNTV

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:05
• Production Date: 29 April 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS-AFRICAN UNION MISSION IN DARFUR - UNAMID
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN
• MAMS Id: U130429b

Description

STORY: UN/ DARFUR
TRT: 2.05
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 APRIL 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

29 APRIL 2013, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Hervé Ladsous, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
“The situation in the Darfur is very troubling. Indeed, while there have been mildly encouraging developments in the peace process, but meantime a fully inclusive political settlement has yet to be reached. UNAMID is working hard to implement its mandate in these circumstances which remain very challenging. It is clear that better cooperation on the part of the Sudanese authorities and improvements in troop and police contingent equipment levels are needed to enable the mission to operate at closer to its full potential. “
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Hervé Ladsous, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
“With regard to the security situation, the intensification of the conflict in Darfur, of military confrontations and heavy intercommunal clashes, is the source of serious concerns. Humanitarian agencies estimate that this year, clashes have caused the displacement of 214,000 persons, including 24,000 towards Chad. “
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations:
“Whatever conflict remains still in Darfur, if it is compared to the events of 2003, becomes a conflict limited to very narrow reasons, and we hope that this Council will assist us in ending that by enforcing sanctions against those rebel groups that reject peace and which, when faced constraints by the army, turned to attack on other areas and the killing of civilians there.”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. Zoom out, Security Council

Storyline

With inter-communal clashes in Darfur having sparked recent deadly violence, and security restrictions having hindered the efforts of peacekeepers, the United Nations peacekeeping chief today (29 April) urged the international community to press the belligerent parties to reach a political settlement.

Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, as he briefed the Security Council on the work of the African Union-United Nations mission in the conflict-torn Western region of Sudan, known as UNAMID, said “the situation in Darfur is every troubling.”

Ladsous noted that there have been “mildly encouraging developments in the peace process” but stressed that “a fully inclusive political settlement has yet to be reached.”

He said resolving the conflict continued to require a combined effort by the Council, the African Union and the wider international community to persuade the belligerent parties, and pointed out that “better cooperation on the part of the Sudanese authorities and improvements in troop and police contingent equipment levels are needed.”

In regards to security, he said intensified conflict in Darfur due to military standoffs, as well as inter-community standoffs, was “the source of serious concerns.” Clashes displaced more than 200,000 people, including 24,000 to Chad – more than last year’s total.

Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman of Sudan told the Council that compared to the events of 2003, the current conflict in Darfur is “limited to very narrow reasons.”

He asked the Security Council to assist the Government of Sudan in putting an end to the conflict “by enforcing sanctions against those rebel groups that reject peace and which, when faced constraints by the army, turned to attack on other areas and the killing of civilians there.”

The Government and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) - Minni Minawi, clashed in east and south Darfur. On 6 April, SLA – Minni Minawi took control of Labado and Muhajeria in east Darfur. The next day, they took Ishma village in south Darfur. As a result, some 33,000 people remained near the UNAMID bases of Muhajeria and Labado.

Inter-communal violence in Darfur involving well-armed militias had also caused significant suffering among the civilian population. On 3 April, an attempted armed robbery triggered clashes between militias drawn mainly from the Misseriya and Salamat tribes in Um Dukhun, Central Darfur.

Sporadic fighting between the groups continued and spread eastwards, between 6 and 17 April, to Rehed El Birdi, 245 km southwest of Nyala in South Darfur and northwards to Darley, 130 km south of Zalingei, Central Darfur. Community sources estimate that upwards of 68 people had been killed and 60 injured in the clashes.