Leader of Darfur Peacekeeping Mission Resigns

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — The head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region, who some diplomats say has been ineffective, is stepping down, United Nations officials said Tuesday.

Officials from the United Nations are working closely with the African Union to find a replacement for the head of the peacekeeping mission, Rodolphe Adada, who is a former foreign minister of Congo, said Marie Okabe, a United Nations spokeswoman.

The peacekeeping force in Darfur, known as Unamid, said in a statement that Mr. Adada’s resignation would take effect on Monday. Diplomats said he was expected to return to politics in Congo.

Gen. Henry Anyidoho of Ghana, deputy chief of the peacekeeping force, will be in charge until a permanent replacement for Mr. Adada is named, United Nations officials said.

The conflict in Darfur in western Sudan has been going on for more than six years. The United Nations says that as many as 300,000 people have died, while Sudan’s government has placed the official toll at 10,000. About 4.7 million people in Darfur rely on international aid to survive, according to the United Nations.

The peacekeeping force was established by a Security Council resolution in July 2007, but deployment of the peacekeeping troops has been slow and difficult.

At the end of June, about 60 percent of Unamid’s planned full strength of 26,000 troops and police officers had arrived in Darfur, an area roughly the size of France. The United Nations says it hopes that 90 percent of the troops will be on the ground by the end of the year.

The slow pace of deployment has frustrated the United Nations, its member states and aid workers. Diplomats and activists have also complained that the United Nations has done too little to revive the stalled Darfur peace effort.

John Prendergast, a former State Department official and co-founder of the Enough Project, an antigenocide group, said the peacekeeping force had been widely perceived as a failure.

“There is an urgent need to construct a more credible and effective peace process backed by stronger leverage,” he said.