U.N. Official Calls Body To Drop Darfur Peace Force
Nji Che - All Headline News African Correspondent Khartoum, Sudan (AHN) - A senior U.N. official has called on the world body to stop trying to persuade Sudan to accept U.N. peacekeepers in the troubled Darfur region. Jan Pronk, a U.N. envoy to Sudan said on Friday that the African Union force in Sudan should rather be strengthened. Pronk said he did not believe Khartoum would accept U.N. peacekeepers any time soon. He told the AP news agency, "The international community should instead push for the African Union's mission to be prolonged and reinforced." There are currently 7,000 African Union troops stationed in Sudan. But the force has not succeeded to quell violence perpetrated by the Janjaweed and other militia groups. The situation has worsened over the last few months. The U.N. Security Council agreed to deploy a larger, better equipped peacekeeping force to protect civilians and aid workers. But negotiations with Khartoum have not succeeded, and Sudan might not accept the U.N. force any time soon. At least 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003 when violence erupted between rebels and government sponsored militia groups. Another 2 million civilians have been displaced from their homeland by the fighting, leading to a humanitarian crisis.
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