Brunik warns against catastrophe of deployment UN forces in Darfur

The representative of the UN secretary general Kofi Annan in Sudan, Yan Brunik, warned that dispatching forces controlled by NATO in order to protect the people of Darfur, west of Sudan "will be a likely catastrophe," warning a press conference in New York against feeding the hostility against the UN in Khartoum.

This warning comes on the background of the strong opposition by the Sudanese government to the American pressures against the African Union to replace its forces in Darfur by a UN force that enjoys greater authorities and more able to move.

Brunik explained that the deployment of a force controlled by the NATO, west of Sudan, will be "a likely catastrophe" because the Sudanese people will actually start a "Jihad against it," adding that Khartoum's position is clear against transferring the responsibilities of the African Union to the UN.

He said that Khartoum has fears that the process of transferring the force is a conspiracy to undermine Sudan and drag it to a situation similar to that taking place in Iraq. In this regard, Brunik said that he has various intelligence information that suspect the existence of al-Qaida activity in Sudan.