UN could replace AU troops
2006-05-07 18:01
Khartoum - Khartoum indicated on Sunday that it may be ready to accept United Nations peacekeepers taking over from African Union troops in Darfur, following a peace deal between the Sudanese government and the main rebel movement.
The announcement co-incided with a visit to Darfur by UN envoy Jan Egeland.
Egeland is the first high-ranking UN official to visit the war-torn region since a peace deal was signed in Abuja on Friday.
Sudan's foreign ministry spokesperson, Jamal Ibrahim, said: "The government will assess whether or not it will need the assistance of foreign troops and it may decide to ask for a UN deployment.
"But such a decision is the prerogative of the government. What is sure is that no foreign forces will come to Sudan without the consent of the government."
Although he stopped short of saying that Khartoum would request a deployment of UN troops in place of the existing AU force, Ibrahim's statement marked a softening of the government's position.
Sudanese government might approve
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir has spoken out strongly and repeatedly against any UN deployment in Darfur, insisting that the peacekeeping mission should be carried out by Africans not outsiders.
But a number of the country's government officials have raised the possibility of a UN deployment within the framework of a peace accord with the rebels.
Ahead of Friday's signing ceremony in Abuja, North Darfur governor Osman Yussef Kibir said the Sudanese government might approve a UN force to oversee implementation of a peace deal.
Kibir said: "We believe the deployment of UN forces in Darfur after a peace accord is concluded can serve as a guarantee to implementation of the accord."
Protesters reject 'international interference'
Only the largest faction of the main rebel group - the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) - signed Friday's agreement to end the three-year-old conflict.
A smaller faction of the SLM and another rebel group have yet to sign, but the partial agreement marked a major breakthrough in the AU-sponsored peace talks.
UN relief co-ordinator Egeland was greeted by a handful of protestors, rejecting "international interference", when he stepped off his plane in Nyala in South Darfur.
Egeland insisted maximum pressure was needed to prevent more tragedies: "At the moment Darfur is slowly being strangled, it's dying in front of us.
"Half of the population has become war victims... so I believe, yes, we are turning the corner, but the whole world has to put pressure on the parties."