U.S. Official Criticizes Implementation of Darfur Deal

Posted December 12th, 2012 at 2:10 pm (UTC-5)
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A U.S. special advisor for Sudan's troubled Darfur region says that a peace deal for Darfur, signed a year-and-a-half ago, has been hindered by a lack of funding, failure to disarm militias, and attacks on peacekeepers.

Dane Smith spoke Wednesday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum during his final visit to the region. He told reporters Sudan's militias are “seemingly out of control” in Darfur and have been implicated in attacks on peacekeepers. Smith said the government has not been successful at keeping the militias under control.

He said for some elements in Darfur, there is a perception that it is “open season” on U.N. personnel, a view he called “unacceptable.”

Several militia groups signed a peace deal known as the Doha agreement last year, but compliance has been weak.

Smith said his biggest disappointment is the “very limited implementation” of the Doha agreement, particularly of provisions that would benefit internally displaced people.

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have died in nearly a decade of ethnic violence before last year's peace deal.