On efforts for a Darfur UN force
Sudan-UN, Politics, 7/18/2006

The European Union hosted today a conference on Darfur in Brussels to discuss ways of raising funds for the African Union mission, the implementation of the Abuja peace agreement and the possibilities of transferring the 7,000-strong AU mission in Darfur to the UN peacekeeping forces.

"We want to deploy the UN mission by January 1. A lot of planning has gone on and we believe that we should be ready by January 1st. But these six months are critical," Jean-Marie Guehenno, UN under secretary general for peacekeeping operations, told a news conference in Brussels this afternoon.

Javier Solana, EU high representative, however, admitted that the Sudanese Government had not changed its position of not allowing United Nations troops to enter Sudan.

Solana said they had a 'clarifying meeting' with Lam Akol, Sudanese foreign minister, but added that the Sudanese government has not changed its position.

Said Djinnit, African Union's peace commissioner, said the AU mission needs 170 million dollars to carry out its mission till September and 440 million dollars to carry out the mission till the end of the year.

Participants of the one-day meeting included Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN, Alpha Oumar Konar of the African Union, Javier Solana, EU high representative and Jendayi Frazer, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

Many countries were also represented at the conference which was divided into three sections: security, political and pledging.

The Darfur conflict, which began in early 2003, has killed 200,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes.

Previous Stories:
  Refugees returning to Sudan reach 10,000 mark   (7/6/2006)
  Annan talks to Bahir on Darfur   (7/3/2006)
  Sudan to international court: no jurisdiction in Darfur   (6/15/2006)

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