Sudan:Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern met with Sudanese president Omar al Bashir in Khartoum yesterday to discuss the state of the Darfur peace process and the forthcoming EU deployment to neighbouring Chad.
The Minister also met with representatives from UN agencies and Irish NGOs working on the ground in Darfur on the first day of his three-day visit to Sudan and Chad.
The trip comes ahead of a Dáil decision on the possible deployment of more than 300 Irish troops as part of the EU mission to Chad's restive eastern region. The predominantly French force - consisting of 4,300 soldiers in total - is charged with protecting camps accommodating almost 400,000 Darfuri refugees and Chadians displaced by local violence. It is expected the Dáil will give its approval to the deployment next week. If approved, the first contingent of Irish troops is expected to be on the ground by early December.
Asked about Sudanese attitudes towards the EU mission following his meeting with President al Bashir, Mr Ahern said: "Generally I think they would have a suspicion of any troops coming from the West into Africa. [President al Bashir] definitely laid it on the line that any involvement of EU troops was a matter for the Chadian government and there was no question of the troops dealing with border security. "I emphasised that was never the intention of this force. It was, from a humanitarian point of view, to protect the IDPs and refugees."
The Minister said he had raised the issue of cross-border raids, citing previous attacks across both sides of the Chad-Sudan border.
Mr Ahern said there was concern about the fallout from the recent case in Chad in which six French charity workers were charged with kidnapping after they tried to airlift 103 African children to Europe. Several thousand students held violent anti-French protests in the Chadian capital N'Djamena yesterday.
He announced Ireland would donate €500,000 to a UN fund supporting peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebel forces on the future of Darfur. The talks are due to resume next month in the Libya.