Sudan reiterated Monday its rejection to the deployment of the
United Nations peacekeepers in its western region of Darfur,
regarding it as foreign intervention to replace the beleaguered
African Union (AU) troops with a UN mission.
"The success of the AU Mission is a success for Africa and
testimony to their ability to achieve peace and stability in the
region without foreign intervention. It is out of this conviction
that Sudan has declared its commitment and support of the AU forces
and its clear rejection of any form of foreign intervention in the
country," said Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir, who was in
Nairobi attending the Summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD).
Africa's solution would be the only way to end the Darfur
conflict, where a three-year rebellion has resulted in the deaths
of an estimated 180,000 people and displaced millions others,
El-Bashir stressed.
His comment conflicted with the agreement announced in Addis
Ababa on March 10 when Sudan and the AU agreed to extend the
mandate of the AU peacekeepers in Darfur to September, and then
allow them to be merged into a larger United Nations force.
The 7,000-strong AU force, which was deployed in 2004, has been
suffering from poor funding and inadequate resources to contain the
escalating bloodshed in Sudan's western region.
El-Bashir reiterated his country's determination to achieve
lasting and comprehensive peace in the volatile Darfur region
through direct negotiations with the rebels to stop bloodshed
during the day-long summit, which gathered leaders from Djibouti,
Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2006)
