The UN special envoy for Darfur has again expressed concern over the security and humanitarian situation in the Sudanese region, where violence displaced at least 30,000 civilians in October alone, and led to the deaths of seven humanitarian workers.

In a statement to the UN Security Council in New York on 27 November, Jan Eliasson said the killing of the seven Sudanese aid workers was the highest monthly casualty since July 2006 and the displacement in October brought the total this year to 280,000.

Since 2003, fighting that has pitted government forces and allied militia against rebel groups in Darfur has led to 200,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 2.2 million people.

"Inter-tribal conflicts over land and water resources continue and persist," Eliasson told the Security Council. "There is increasing concern of Arab unrest and militancy as well as of a spillover of the conflict into [the neighbouring region of] Kordofan."

On 26 November, the International Crisis Group (ICG) launched a report cautioning that new dynamics in Darfur could result in an Arab insurgency.

"Inter-Arab dissension has added new volatility to the situation on the ground," ICG stated in the report, Darfur's New Security Reality. "There is now a high risk of an Arab insurgency, as well as potential for alliances with the predominantly non-Arab rebel groups."

Eliasson said humanitarian access continued to be impeded as tension in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) increased.

"The raids of government forces into camps, as well as incidents in and around the camps, have led to loss of life, destruction of shelters and violations of human rights," he added. "Recent forced relocation of IDPs in South Darfur is particularly worrisome."

He said Darfur's humanitarian, security and political situation had also had an impact on the deployment of a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force, expected to be fully operational in early 2008.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the UN Under-Secretary-General Peacekeeping Operations, in a joint briefing with Eliasson, told the Security Council the first elements of the heavy support package for the AU Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) force had been deployed, including a 140-strong police unit from Bangladesh and an engineering unit of 135 people from China.

However, the envoys said the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels shared the blame for "serious gaps" in plans to deploy the AU-UN hybrid force, known as UNAMID.

"While the African Union and the United Nations would continue to press the parties to make progress in their negotiations, efforts to deploy a capable peacekeeping operation required the Council’s continued engagement, as well as the active support of the government of Sudan,” Guéhenno said.

Gaps in the hybrid force

With only weeks to the transfer of authority from AMIS to UNAMID at the end of December, Guéhenno said the hybrid force still lacked critical mobility capabilities, including one heavy and one medium transport unit, made up of 18 helicopters; and one light tactical helicopter unit, comprising six helicopters.

In addition, Guéhenno said the Sudanese government, which has been reluctant to accept non-African units, had still not replied to UNAMID’s list of troop contributors.

However, in response, Sudan's ambassador to the UN, Abdalmahmood Mohamad, said his country had made efforts to fulfil its obligations for UNAMID's deployment and that many aspects had already been undertaken, including the establishment of the force's main operational capacities.

He added that efforts were ongoing to complete a status-of-forces agreement and that the government had provided logistical support and established a high-level ministerial committee to facilitate UNAMID’s deployment.

Talking about peace

Regarding the October talks in Libya, which now incorporate consultative meetings in Khartoum, Darfur and Juba, Eliasson said Darfur's peace process was irreversible.

"There is no way back," he said. “It is critical to stay the course and maintain the political momentum."

He said recent developments in Juba, capital of Southern Sudan, were encouraging as the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) had helped Darfur rebel groups to coalesce around two major groups - 11 different faction representatives working to reconstitute the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM-A) and five factions, which have agreed to work together as the United Resistance Front (URF).

"These two groups have pledged to coordinate their positions on the issues for the talks," Eliasson said. "The movements now intend to return to Darfur to connect with field commanders and other factions on the ground in order to solidify their alliance."

Moreover, he said, efforts were ongoing within SLM-Unity in Darfur to restructure and coordinate positions.

"As a result of these efforts, we hope to see two or three groups of movements instead of the many factions we have worked with during the last year," Eliasson said. "These are positive developments which, however, should be welcomed with a dose of caution. Unification efforts remain fragile."