In Sudan, U.S. to Advocate Adding Troops

The United States dispatched a senior diplomat to Khartoum yesterday as it warned that the Sudanese government and rebel forces in the Darfur region are arming themselves for a new outbreak of violence that could erase years of diplomatic efforts.

Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi E. Frazer, who will head the mission, said she will seek to persuade Sudan's government to accept an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has adamantly refused, but Frazer confidently predicted that the U.N. Security Council will soon approve a resolution authorizing the force.

"At some point, diplomacy and consultancy has to come to an end and we have to act. The time is now," Frazer said, adding that the Security Council hopes to call a vote by Thursday. "We believe that the vote would come out in favor of a multinational force. . . . We also expect that the government of Sudan will accept that."

Last week, Britain and the United States introduced a Security Council resolution to send 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers, replacing an ineffective African Union force. Frazer said about 5,000 of the African Union troops can be transferred to U.N. leadership in October, and then the rest of the U.N. force could arrive by the end of the year. But China and Russia have expressed skepticism.

Frazer, the top African affairs official at State, said the situation in Darfur is dire, just three months after pressure by then-Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick resulted in a peace agreement between the government and one of the rebel groups.

"We think the security environment is deteriorating -- and deteriorating very quickly," Frazer said. Government and rebel forces appear to be preparing for major offensives, she added.

The conflict broke out in early 2003 when two African rebel groups attacked police stations and military outposts in Darfur. The United Nations and human rights groups accuse the Arab-led central government of supporting militiamen, called the Janjaweed, in order to crush the rebellion. About 2,000 villages have been destroyed across Darfur, and violence and disease have left as many as 450,000 people dead and 2 million homeless.

Officials had hoped the peace agreement would pave the way for introducing a large U.N. force into Darfur, an area the size of France. But other rebel groups rejected the deal, and Bashir refused to accept a U.N. force.

Fighting has broken out among rebel groups, and human rights groups have charged that Minni Minnawi -- the lone rebel signatory to the agreement, who met President Bush at the White House last month -- has also been involved in atrocities.

Asked about those reports, Frazer said: "We think all of the forces in Darfur are potentially and probably involved in atrocities."

She added that soon the African Union troops -- in place since 2003 -- will have no funds and no ability to keep the peace. "We would return to the point before the African Union deployed in the first place," she said.

The International Rescue Committee reported this week that rapes of women in camps have spiked to frightening levels in recent weeks, with more than 200 rapes over a five-week period in just one camp. An additional 50,000 people have lost their homes in recent weeks, the relief agency said, and nine humanitarian workers have been killed.

Frazer's trip appears to be as much an effort to prod Sudan as an attempt to persuade China -- which has large oil investments in Sudan -- to support the U.N. resolution.

Frazer, who said she does not expect a Chinese veto, said China has urged greater consultation with Sudan. "My trip is part of our effort to demonstrate clearly that we are consulting with the government of Sudan," she said.