Sudan rejects UN forces deployment in Darfur
Sudan-UN, Politics, 3/4/2006

The minister of state at the Sudanese foreign ministry al-Samani al-Wasila said that the government threatened to withdraw from the African Union if it agrees to transfer the mission of its forces in Darfur to the UN.

Al-Jazeera satellite TV quoted Samani as expressing Sudan's rejection the deployment of the UN forces to the turbulent district.

This development comes while the Washington Post issued on Friday said that the UN secretary general proposed that the western forces are to provide air backing to the African Union forces in Darfur.

The paper indicated that Annan proposed that in a confidential message written by the American ambassador to the UN John Bolton. In an interview with the paper, Bolton said that he does not consider Annan's message as a clear request for an American air support.

He explained that it is early to talk about the US role in Darfur until the UN and American military planners will be able to draw options by the UN security council.

Bolton also indicated that Washington and the UN are discussing the possibility of imposing an embargo on the Sudanese aviation in Darfur.

The UN has recently debated a proposal which stated dispatching a UN force to replace the African force which did not succeed in establishing stability and peace in the area which has been witnessing a conflict since three years.

The Sudanese foreign minister Lam Akol disclosed American and European pressure at the security and peace council of the African Union in order to force it to make a proposal to transfer the African Union forces mission in Darfur to the UN.

The Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened earlier of transferring Darfur into a "grave" for those who target his country, rejecting the foreign interference through the "gate of Darfur."

The representative of the UN secretary general in Sudan, Yan Brunik, warned that dispatching a force controlled by the NATO to Darfur will be "a likely catastrophe," attributing that the Sudanese people will actually start a Jihad against these forces. He also warned against an anti- UN sentiment in Khartoum.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt: A Darfur solution should be acceptable to all   (3/2/2006)
  Sudan complains of Security Council leaks on Darfur crimes   (3/2/2006)
  Brunik warns against catastrophe of deployment UN forces in Darfur   (3/1/2006)
  New York Times: Sudan does not want UN troops   (2/21/2006)

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