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Sudan Endorses Joint AU-UN Peacekeeping Force in Darfur
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1582757:A6F02AD83191E1607AC0805A477A3A669574F7DCC14957C0 President Omar
al-Bashir says Sudan is ready to implement Darfur peace plan





Omar Al Bashir (File photo)Sudan's president has told the United
Nations he endorses a plan for a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping
force in Darfur.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President Omar
al-Bashir said Sudan is ready "to start immediately" with implementing
a Darfur peace plan endorsed by Khartoum and the African Union last
month.

The letter was made public Tuesday, several days after Mr. Annan asked
the Sudanese president to clarify his position on the proposed
A.U-U.N. force. Security Council diplomats said the letter sounds
promising but noted that Sudan has previously refused to approve any
large-scale U.N. deployment to Darfur.

In the letter, Mr. Bashir also sidestepped questions about the size
and command of the joint force.

The peace plan calls for a three-stage operation that would start with
the deployment of a couple hundred U.N. military advisers to the
region. The advisers would join an existing African Union force that
has been unable to stop the rampant violence in Darfur.

Rebel groups there began fighting the Sudanese government nearly four
years ago. The increasingly chaotic violence has killed an estimated
200,000 people, and displaced more than two million others from their
homes.

Mr. Bashir has flatly rejected a Security Council resolution that
authorized sending 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers to the region. Mr.
Bashir's letter to the U.N. was dated December 23rd and made public
Tuesday.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

 


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