On 14 November the UN’s peacekeeping chief, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, said that the deployment of the joint UN-African Union to Darfur was being threatened by the lack of government offers to contribute key ground transport and aviation units.

Mr Guéhenno warned that without the adequate equipment “it may not be wise” to deploy the UN Assistance Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Despite appeals, UNAMID still lacks pledges from countries for a ground transport unit, 18 transport helicopters and six helicopters to be used for tactical purposes.

“I think it tells a sad story on the commitment to Darfur, frankly”, said Guéhenno in the press conference on 14 November, “I think there is an immense tragedy that has unfolded in Darfur and now it is up to the countries that care about Darfur to really make the commitment that will make a difference. I think this is the time for concrete action.”

Originally scheduled to take over authority from the existing AU mission no later than 31 December 2007 , UNAMID’s deployment was recently pushed back by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, citing problems relating to the list of troop-contributing countries.

In the press conference Mr Guéhenno voiced concern that the Sudanese government had still not yet signaled its approval of several non-African units in UNAMID. While the force will have a predominantly African character, Thailand will provide one of 18 battalions in the peacekeeping force with Nepal contributing a reserve unit. Sweden, Norway and Denmark have offered to send an engineering unit.

The UN-AU force began limited operations at its El Fasher headquarters last month, in what a UN official called at the time a milestone for the strife-torn Sudanese region. But these new warnings of a further delay in UNAMID’s deployment come amid a security situation that continued to deteriorate throughout October and early November.