The delegation met with officials from the beleaguered U.N./African Union peacekeeping force on Thursday morning. The Sudanese government’s insistence that troops come only from African nations has been a major obstacle for the joint mission, known as UNAMID. But the government promised Wednesday that Thai and Nepalese forces would be allowed into Darfur once Ethiopian and Egyptian troops arrive.

UNAMID commander Gen. Martin Agwai said that with the addition of the Egyptian, Ethiopian, Thai and Nepalese troops, he expects his force to grow from only 9,000 to 13,000 within the next three or four months.

But that number only represents half of the total number of troops authorized by Security Council Resolution 1769, and the mission still lacks attack helicopters, surveillance aircraft, transport helicopters, military engineers, and logistical support necessary to provide security for the people of Darfur.

On Thursday afternoon, the Security Council delegation visited the Zamzam refugee camp, outside the North Sudan capital of El Fasher. There, staff from the U.N.’s World Food Program told the delegates that they might have to cut food rations for the second time in two months due to the worsening security situation. In March, the WFP announced that it was transporting only half as much food as it normally would because bandits and hijackers were making it difficult for trucks to reach their destinations.

The Security Council delegation will meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday afternoon.

WIDE ANGLE reports from Darfur in Heart of Darfur, premiering July 1. Check your local listings for air times.

“We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end,” they wrote. “If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009, we pledge that the next administration will pursue these goals with unstinting resolve.”

The statement appeared as an advertisement in The New York Times, and was paid for by the SaveDarfur Coalition.

More that 200,000 people have died and nearly 2.5 million have been displaced in what UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon has called “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.”

On July 31, 2007, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing the establishment of a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. The resolution calls for 20,000 troops and 6,000 police, but to date, there are only about 9,000 people on the ground, tasked with protecting the people of Darfur but restricted by a limited mandate.

This summer, WIDE ANGLE follows General Martin Luther Agwai, commander of the combined UN-African Union peacekeeping force, on a mission as he helicopters into hostile areas to meet with rebel leaders.

The film, Heart of Darfur, premieres on July 1. Check your local listings for the exact time, and check back here for updates.

“The Islamic world’s response to the daily killings and suffering of millions of Muslims in Darfur has been largely silent, from both civil society as well as the institutions and majority of Islamic governments,” the coalition said in a statement. “The Islamic world must decide to end its wall of silence, before it is too late.”

Formed in May 2008, the Arab Coalition for Darfur is made up of human rights groups from Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Mauritania, Kuwait, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni also chided the OIC for its inaction on Darfur. “It is hypocritical to concentrate on the Palestine crisis and pay little attention on the African conflicts involving OIC member states,” he said.

Despite the criticisms from the new coalition and President Museveni, the final report issued at the OIC bears no mention of Darfur, and calls for “solidarity with the Republic of Sudan.” The United Nations has accused the government of Sudan of war crimes, and the U.S. holds it responsible for genocide in Darfur.

The lengthier Kampala Declaration, also issued at the OIC, includes expressions of solidarity with “our Muslim brothers and sisters in Northern Cyprus” and “the Kosovar people,” and calls for “respect of the human rights of the Kashmiri people,” but does not express solidarity with the people of Darfur, who are also Muslim.

The declaration does call upon OIC member states to contribute to efforts to stabilize Darfur within the framework agreed upon by the government of Sudan, the United Nations, and the African Union.

The unarmed Ugandan police officer, John Kennedy Okecha, is the first international peacekeeper to be killed since the joint mission took over from an African Union mission in December.

Last week, Nigerian peacekeepers were ambushed by a group of about 60 men on horseback armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but no one was killed. The attackers were most likely members of the janjaweed militia, who often conduct raids on horseback.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guéhenno warned of escalating violence in Darfur earlier this month, after Darfur rebels attacked Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman.

Speaking on the 60th anniversary of U.N. peacekeeping yesterday, Guéhenno complained about the weak mandate and lack of resources devoted to Darfur.

“It’s not enough to authorize a mission, you have to give that mission the means to do the job,” he said. “We don’t have the firepower that would allow us to do what we’re expected to do. And that’s very dangerous.”

To understand more about the current situation in Darfur, particularly about the difficulties faced by the U.N.-African Union mission, and to hear more from U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guéhenno, tune into the premiere episode of WIDE ANGLE on July 1.

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