UN Says Al-Bashir Is $500 Million Behind in Darfur Payments, Abuse Cut from Kenya Statement

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, February 6 -- The UN's new Mission in Darfur, UNAMID, has asserted that the Government of Sudan has violated its commitments in the Darfur Peace Agreement, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. On February 4 at UN headquarters in New York, Inner City Press asked for UN confirmation or denial of what sources said about the "fund that was set up under the May 2006 agreement between some parties, Minni Minawi and others and the Government of Khartoum -- that no money has been paid."

            Two days later, a response was provided from UNAMID, that the Darfur Peace Agreement "Implementation Team has confirmed that the DPA does indeed provide for the Government of Sudan to transfer from the National Revenue Fund into the Darfur Reconstruction and Development Fund an amount equivalent to $300 million for the year 2006, not less than $200 million in 2007 and not less than $200 million in 2008. The PDAIT has also confirmed that as of 05 February 2008, and apart from providing funds to cover the operational expenses of the DRDF, the GoS has not paid any money into the DRDF."

            That is, the UN is saying that the al-Bashir government is more than $500 million behind in its payments. Why is the UN not saying this louder?

UNAMID forces guarding convoy -- money not shown

            Meanwhile in the Security Council on Wednesday,  a presidential statement on Kenya was adopted, but a key phrase stating that the Council regrets the abuses in the Presidential election was cut out from the statement.  Diplomats from a Permanent Five member of the Council pointed the finger at fellow P-5er Russia for having opposed the statement on elections, on the theory that its own elections are disputed.  Another Council representative said it’s a "cultural thing," with the West wanting to talk about democracy, and others on the Council less willing. Inner City Press asked if there's been any movement on the British statement that it is agitating that the Council hear from the other side in Kenya, that is, from Raila Odinga's ODM. No movement, Inner City Press was told.  No movement? Watch this site.

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These reports are also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

  Because a number of Inner City Press' UN sources go out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of the UN agencies and many of their staff. Keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep the information flowing.

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Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

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