Thursday, July 12, 2007

Darfur update


European parliament members in Strasbourg are discussing the crisis in Darfur, after a recent fact-finding mission to Sudan's war-torn western region revealed widespread problems in the AU peacekeeping mission, known by its acronym AMIS.

The lawmakers are especially focused on reports that the 7,000 AU soldiers have not received their salaries in more than four months, despite the monthly multi-million dollar European contribution to the peacekeeping mission.

A spokesman for the EU development and aid commission, Amadeu Altafaj, says that the European Union does not believe corruption is the reason for the delay. He says a lack of expertise in financial and administrative management, combined with inadequate resources, may be the problem.

"We have been carrying out audits in Addis, in Khartoum," Altafaj said. "We do not have evidence of any fraud, any misuse of the money. But on the other hand we have seen that there are difficulties, there are delays. There is a lack of capacity. There is a lack of expertise in the African Union, but AMIS is doing an important job on the ground. They are the only ones taking this responsibility on the ground, so what they need is full support of the international community in general."


Fighting in Darfur continues even though the largest rebel group signed a peace agreement with the government.

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