U.N. report cites "lessons" from Sudan attack

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An internal report on the U.N. mission in Sudan admits "lessons" were learned from the way peacekeepers behaved during an attack on a disputed oil-rich town in which scores of civilians were killed.

The top U.S. envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson has accused U.N. peacekeepers in the region, known as UNMIS, of hiding in their barracks during the fighting in May instead of protecting Sudanese civilians in line with their mandate.

One part of the report on UNMIS, seen by Reuters on Thursday, says that the United Nations had identified several "lessons" to be taken from an assessment of the actions of the U.N. troops though it left out details of any mistakes made.

"A number of lessons learned were identified to inform future crisis response and force posture in UNMIS," it said.

U.N. special envoy for Sudan Ashraf Qazi rejected Williamson's comments, saying "UNMIS has neither the capacity nor the mandate to militarily intervene."

The violence in Sudan's Abyei region, which straddles the border between northern and semi-autonomous southern Sudan, killed dozens and forced about 50,000 people from their homes, igniting fears at the time that a new civil war could erupt between the north and south.

The new UNMIS report, which followed a U.N. Security Council demand for an investigation of what happened in Abyei in May, says "UNMIS sheltered and escorted to safety over 100 civilians who took refuge in the UNMIS compound."

But a Reuters reporter who was present at the UNMIS compound at the time of the attack saw things differently. According to the reporter, southern Sudanese soldiers left around 100 stranded civilians outside UNMIS' gates.