Jan Pronk Quotations

Of course that is a feeling, which is being manipulated by leaders, at the same time it?s also a feeling which is true for many people in the streets of Khartoum, and in that very difficult situation we at the moment are working.

I would say give them some time to get their act together.

There is fear in Khartoum that the U.N. transition will be a conspiracy to bring Sudan in the same situation in Iraq.

I think it is to a certain extent youngness of the administration and overemphasis on domestic policies rather than on international policy-making,

I think it is still possible to have a peace agreement, ... It is not a minute possibility. It is a very concrete possibility. Again, the talks in Abuja are not bad at the moment. It is going to the right direction. They are not divided in Abuja. The situation is much better than people are saying. It is not lost.

It is possible to reach a result. My hopes are growing day by day.

Peace is being jeopardized in the short run.

We need peace between the government and the SLA and we need tribal reconciliation. There is no need to wait for a result in Abuja. You can start here. At some point you have to stop the killing and reconcile among the tribes.

We are not overstretching our mandate, and I have always been completely impartial.

There is intelligence information that there are people in Khartoum who were not in Khartoum before. In these situations it is to a certain extent conjuncture (but) it would be unwise not to take the beginnings of such warnings seriously.

This targeting of AU personnel contravenes the status of the African mission as an independent third-party, strongly supported by the U.N. Security Council,

There is progress and a deal might be in the making.

The parties sometimes are talking, and a day after, they're shooting.

But the Joint Committee is not meeting, so we are in a vicious circle at the moment.

The government of Sudan has taken a strong position against the transition.

We do not know whether the African Union will reconfirm its decision (at its March 10 meeting). That is not certain any more.

We do not know whether the African Union next Friday will reconfirm its own decision. That is not certain any more.

The security situation is grim as fighting is going on on a daily basis.

The movements have to show that, in the areas which they claim to control, they take all action necessary to stop so-called split factions or dissident commanders, rather than seemingly allowing them to continue acting in violation

This decision was taken due to the increasing instability in the affected areas, including a build-up of forces on either side of the border with increased potential for armed conflict.

They now have 7,000 troops on the ground and wanted to expand it to 12,000. I think we need more than 12,000 troops and that is a way in which the UN could help.

Forcing refugees who are the victims of previous conflicts to flee again in the course of the current conflict, which is not of their making, would result in great additional suffering for them.

That is creating a situation which is getting out of hand, because the longer a situation like this is lasting, the more difficult it is to change it,

The AU force has helped to establish more stability. They have done an admirable job, highly professional, with much dedication.

They are there because the western world in the security council asked them to go there. And we let them do the job with bound hands.... if you do not give them the resources. The African countries do not have the equipment that is necessary to intervene and to control such a battle... so if you ask the African soldiers to do the dirty work, give them the tools.

Armed robbery and hijacking have endangered humanitarian workers assisting over 450,000 vulnerable people living in the area. Moreover, credible information points to the use of hijacked vehicles for military purposes by these armed groups. This is unacceptable and contrary to international humanitarian law.

I know how difficult it is nowadays, but this is essential because we have to meet the expectations beyond peace,

If even weak sanctions are not going to be implemented, the Security Council doesn't take itself seriously and they have to. They have to because otherwise the people on the ground are just laughing.

I don't see a voluntary return of more than 1 million displaced people to their villages to start in the next three weeks because of lack of security.

I am as positive on north-south as I used to be, but I do not want to conceal that there are risks, ... LRA is bigger than we thought and it's important to say so.

This is a good text. It is a balanced text. It is my conviction that it is possible to reach a full agreement.

All we did was picking up the pieces and muddling through, doing too little too late.

The commanders are united in their desire to continue the talks in order to reach a peace agreement by the end of this year,

The longer a situation like this lasts, the more difficult it is to change it anymore,