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UNMIS Will Continue With Mandate

   Peter Clottey 09 May 2010
   A  handout picture from UNMIS shows internally displaced persons (IDP)
   waiting  for the distribution of aid during a visit by UN humanitarian
   chief John Holmes in the town of Akobo in southern Sudan, 8 May 2009

Photo: AFP

   A  handout picture from UNMIS shows internally displaced persons (IDP)
   waiting  for the distribution of aid during a visit by UN humanitarian
   chief John Holmes in the town of Akobo in southern Sudan, 8 May 2009

   An  official  of the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) says the world body
   will  continue  discharging its duties and responsibilities to protect
   ordinary Sudanese as mandated by the Security Council.

   Asharaf  Eissa said the U.N. mission will also continue to monitor the
   ceasefire  agreement  signed between President Omar Hassan al-Bashirâs
   government and the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Movement (SPLM).

   âThe  Security Council has not mandated us to specifically monitor the
   ceasefire,  but  we  do  this on the basis of the ceasefire mechanisms
   stipulated  in  the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between
   the  SPLM  (Sudan  Peopleâs Liberation Movement) and the NCP (National
   Congress Party),â he said.

   This  comes  after  the  SPLM  claimed  it had evidence that President
   Bashirâs  National  Congress  Party  was  trying  to  destabilize  the
   semi-autonomous south by arming proxy militias in the region.

   Yasir  Arman,  a  leading  member  of the SPLM said President Bashirâs
   Party was using the Arab tribes to destabilize the south ahead of next
   yearâs  scheduled  referendum  that  will  determine  whether southern
   Sudanese want an independent country or remain part of Sudan.

   But,  supporters  of  the NCP denied the accusation saying their party
   committed to fully implementing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement
   (CPA).

   UNMIS  official Eissa said the world body will continue to monitor the
   situation on the ground.

   âA  ceasefire  joint  military committee that is chaired by the U.N.âs
   Mission  in  Sudan,  the force commander and representative commanders
   from  the SPLA (Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Army) and the Sudanese Armed
   Forces  (SAF),  whenever there is violation, this violation is brought
   to  the  attention of the committee.  And then, the committee decides
   collectively  on  performing  verification  and monitoring.  Then the
   U.N.  peacekeepers  go  in  and verify on the basis of the report that
   this committee receive,â Eissa said.

   UNMIS  consists  of  over  17,  000  military personnel and over 3,000
   civilian police personnel.

   The  U.N.  mission  to  Sudan  was mandated by the Security Council to
   monitor   the   countryâs  2005  Comprehensive  Peace  Agreement  that
   effectively  ended  the  more than 20 year civil war between the north
   and the south.

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