VZCZCXRO6252
PP RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1458 1721357
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211357Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3323
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001458 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO SOCI AL UN SU
SUBJECT:  SUDAN/DARFUR:  President Bashir Voices Strong 
Objection to UN Peacekeeping Operation 
¶1.  Summary.  In the past two days, President Bashir has 
spoken out in harsh and negative terms against a UN PKO 
presence in Darfur.  The language is very combative, even 
for Bashir.   End Summary. 
 
¶2.  President Omar al-Bashir has voiced his strong 
opposition on June 20 to any deployment of international 
forces in Darfur, labeling such a move foreign 
occupation.  In response to a question posed at a joint 
press conference in Khartoum with South African President 
Mbeki, he stated, "The right question should be:  why 
should international forces come into Darfur, what are 
the reasons for such an intervention?  The UN Security 
Council decided on deployment of international forces in 
Darfur under Chapter VII after we have reached a peace 
agreement that has ended a crisis the West has branded as 
the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." 
 
¶3.  Bashir added, "We know everything...we know their 
agenda...we have our own bugging and monitoring systems 
through which we ascertained that those forces are coming 
with a colonial agenda, they are coming not for keeping 
peace but to remain in Darfur as forces of occupation. 
There is no person in the world who tolerates the 
occupation of his country," Bashir added, charging that 
the UN Security Council "should have consulted us before 
taking its resolution." 
¶4.  President Mbeki said the AU "should continue 
discharging its mandate in Darfur while the UN may assist 
in a way that is acceptable to the Sudanese government." 
Mbeki dismissed a suggestion that he had paid the visit 
to Khartoum to convince the government of Bashir to 
accept deployment of international forces in Darfur, 
stating, "I did not come for this purpose but it was 
mentioned among other issues we have discussed." 
------------------------------------------- 
UN Troops Equivalent to Colonization Forces 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Bashir also is quoted on June 20 as saying that 
sending UN troops to Sudan under Chapter VII of the 
Security Council would mean receiving colonizing forces 
in place of forces for maintaining security and 
stability.  According to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA), 
Bashir said sending UN forces appears to be an objective 
in itself rather than a means to achieve security and 
stability in Darfur, outlining a purported colonization 
agenda Western states hide.  Bashir wondered about the 
provision of funding for those forces, which need 
billions of dollars, while the UN was unable to come up 
with the ten thousand troops stipulated in Southern Sudan 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, or to provide food 
assistance to the needy in Darfur as acknowledged by Jan 
Egeland of the UN when he recently visited the area. 
 
¶6.  Bashir said that, despite the improvement of the 
situation as recognized by the UN and the AU as well as 
humanitarian organizations, Sudan kept on hearing reports 
of serious deterioration of the situation in Darfur and 
about ethnic cleansing, stating that this intensive 
campaign and the marches and the protest organized in 
American were actually headed by Jewish peace and 
security organizations with vested interests known to the 
Sudan and its people.  He said being a member of the UN, 
Sudan should have been consulted and talked with 
regarding a potential role for the UN in peacekeeping 
before planning to dispatch troops.  He said the Sudan is 
keen to see the success of the AU mission at the regional 
level. 
 
¶7.  Bashir said Sudan was keen to see the success of the 
AU in Darfur, as this was the first mission for the union 
in trying to resolve African problems.  The president 
said the coming six months would demonstrate a change in 
the situation in Darfur, which would no longer need UN or 
African forces. 
 
HUME