Ban to send peacekeeping operations experts to Africa next week

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced Monday his intention of sending experts from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to Addis Ababa next week in efforts to resolve the crisis in Darfur.

''I am going to dispatch DPKO expert-level people to Addis Ababa, together with the African Union, for consultation and briefing on the moving Darfur heavy support package issues,'' he told reporters at a press conference after returning from an 11-day trip to the Middle East.

Ban said that there was an agreement between Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir, Alpha Oumar Konare, the chairman of the African Union, and himself and had hoped to be able ''to dispatch experts by early next week.''

The secretary general also announced his plans to present an informal report to the Security Council on Thursday, as well as to convene high-level consultations to discuss the Darfur situation at U.N. headquarters with Konare during his visit from April 16-17.

''On these two days I am going to engage in extensive, in-depth consultation with the African Union to make further progress on this matter, based upon the report of the technical expert-level peoples' consultation in Addis Ababa,'' he added.

At the same time Ban also deplored the recent killing of five African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, which he said illustrates the ''necessity and urgency of dispatching hybrid peacekeepers to Darfur.''

In addition to engaging in the technical-level consultation, Ban also emphasized that the political dialogue should also continue. He pointed to ''good progress'' in the area of humanitarian assistance that was achieved when John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, visited Darfur.

In light of furthering improvement in the humanitarian assistance, Ban believed he needed more time for diplomacy to work in spite of calls by the United States and Britain to seek U.N. sanctions against the country.

''My position at this time is that, before we talk about sanctions, let me have some more political space to deal with this dialogue with them,'' he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died and more than 2 million have been forced to flee their homes since February 2003 when conflicts broke out between rebels and pro-government forces.

Some 7,000 African Union troops who have been deployed to the region have largely been unable to quell the violence and are under funded and under equipped.

Ban also weighed in on the matter of the 15 British naval personnel who continue to be held by Iranian officials who claim that they were seized in Iranian waters despite British claims to have been operating in Iraqi waters.

After speaking with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Saudi Arabia, Ban said, ''I requested and appealed to him that this issue should be resolved as soon as possible through political, diplomatic consultations.''

The U.N. chief had also advised the foreign minister that this ''rhetoric should be toned down'' as it was not conducive to resolving the matter.

During his recent trip, Ban said he discussed the Middle East peace process, national reconciliation in Lebanon, the early establishment of a special tribunal for the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, the international compact for Iraq, as well as the U.N. role, and issues related to Sudan, Somalia and other African regions.