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U.S. envoy heads to Africa to mediate Darfur crisis

From Elise Labott
CNN Washington Bureau

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is heading to Africa to help hammer out a peace deal on Darfur.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent her deputy to save peace talks on ending the violence in Sudan's western Darfur region, saying it was time to "shake the trees" and put a robust security force in place.

Robert Zoellick left Monday for Abuja, Nigeria, where the African Union is trying to broker a peace agreement between the rebels and government after extending a Sunday deadline by 48 hours.

The United States hopes the deputy secretary of state can push the groups toward an agreement that will facilitate putting a U.N. peacekeeping force in the battered region.

"The president feels very strongly and very passionately about the need to get an agreement, about the need to get a robust security force, a blue-hatted force in to be able to protect the innocent people of Darfur," Rice told reporters, referring to the blue berets U.N. peacekeepers wear. (Watch why many think the U.S. should do more to end the Darfur crisis -- 2:11)

In a statement about Zoellick's trip, the U.S. State Department urged the rebels to focus on key issues thwarting a peace deal, and urged Sudan to send a senior representative to Abuja to close the deal.

"All parties should make a concentrated effort to seize this opportunity for peace," the statement said.

Rice has called for an urgent plan to import a U.N. force with NATO assistance, something the Sudanese government has refused.

"Frankly, we need to shake the trees a bit, shake the bureaucracy a little bit and say to people, 'It's not acceptable to wait any longer for at least the planning for a robust security force,' " Rice said.

The secretary was quick to point out that the proposal was for peacekeeping forces only.

"Nobody is talking about NATO forces -- combat forces on the ground," she said. "Everybody understands that this will be largely an African Union mission with perhaps some other countries involved in the mission."

After several weeks of talks in Abuja, the Sudanese government Sunday had agreed to sign an agreement to end the violence in Darfur, but the rebel movement rejected the plan.

The Darfur conflict, which erupted more than three years ago when the people of Darfur began to rebel against government authority, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of 2 million people. Drought has only compounded the suffering.

The government has tried to put down the rebels, but the ensuing fighting has been blamed for the refugees and casualties.

The Janjaweed, an Arab militia, has carried out numerous attacks against ethnic black Africans amid the fighting, and has been accused of raping and pillaging villages with the support of the government. (Watch George Clooney address the situation in Darfur -- 2:58)

Salim Ahmed Salim, the chief African Union mediator on Darfur, said he was holding out hope that the rebel movement would accept the deal and added that the two sides "are very close" to an agreement.

The rebels have several concerns about the peace deal -- chief among them, power sharing -- but Salim said those issues are addressed by the agreement now on the table.

"We are making every effort right now to try and overcome the concerns expressed by the movement," Salim said.

"But we do sincerely believe that the signing of this agreement by the government of Sudan is a significant event because it commits them to some specific measures, especially in the security area and if these measures are implemented, it will provide certainly a tremendous relief for the people of Darfur."

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louis Arbour said the lack of security was the scapegoat.

"Women who have to get out of the camps to select firewood are subjected to rape and all kinds of sexual violence," Arbour said. "So there is no security on the ground, which also prohibits access by humanitarian [organizations]."

The United States has labeled the situation in Darfur "genocide," but the United Nations has been reluctant to follow suit because of the legal implications.

The U.N. Security Council agreed in March to extend its mission in Sudan until at least September 24 and to expedite preparations to expand its mission by taking over the African Union peacekeeping effort.

The United Nations created a mission in Sudan in March 2005, but the Sudanese government in Khartoum has not been supportive of its presence.

Earlier this month, the Sudanese government turned back a plane carrying U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland, a move that drew protests from the United Nations.