8 May 2009

The war in Darfur has gone from intense fighting in 2003 to 2004 when tens of thousands were killed to "a low-intensity conflict" with about 150 deaths a month, the peace-keeping chief in the Sudanese region reiterated on Friday.

But Rodolphe Adada, head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission, warned the UN Security Council that "the danger of a serious escalation of conflict in Darfur is ever-present".

Adada identified a number of potential flashpoints: the danger of insurrection in camps where hundreds of thousands of displaced Darfurians sought refuge, the mobilisation of militants by all parties, the unresolved tensions between Sudan and Chad, numerous local disputes and the chronic lack of law and order.

The war in Darfur began in 2003 when rebel groups took up arms against the government, complaining of discrimination and neglect.

UN officials say up to 300 000 people have died and 2,7 million have fled their homes.

"Darfur today is a conflict of all against all," Adada told the council. "Government forces clash with the armed movements. The armed movements fight among each other, or violently purge their own members.

"Members of government security forces fight against one another, and the army clashes with the militias. There are intertribal clashes. All parties have killed civilians." Still, he said, the situation has evolved from the heavy bloodshed of 2003 to 2004.

"Today, in purely numerical terms it is a low-intensity conflict," Adada said.

A database kept by the UN-AU force since it began operations on January 1 2008, has registered about 2 000 fatalities through March 31, 2009.

The death toll includes 620 civilians as well as 573 combatants, 569 people in intertribal fighting, and 14 peacekeepers from the UN-AU force, Adada said.

While the people of Darfur "are crying out" for peace, Adada said political efforts to end the six-year conflict have been "frozen" since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in March for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The political progress made in February when Sudan's government and Darfur's most powerful rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, agreed to launch negotiations on ending the war "has not been sustained", he said.

While there is no prospect of a comprehensive cease-fire, Adada said "a cessation of hostilities and reduction of violence are possible".

Adada said Sudan's expulsion of 13 international aid organisations from Darfur in March and its suspension of three local aid groups "has caused a significant interruption to essential supplies and services" and strongly backed UN negotiations to solve the crisis.

Adada said about 69% of the 26 000-strong UN-AU force is now on the ground but the force is only operating "at about one-third of projected full capacity" because of continuing logistical difficulties, including the lack of transport helicopters. He said he hopes the force will be at full strength by the end of the year. -- Sapa-AP