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Sudan accepts resolution on Darfur force
Sudan ended months of stonewalling on Wednesday by accepting a UN resolution approving a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur where more than 200,000 people have died in four years.

“We announce our acceptance of the resolution,” Foreign Minister Lam Akol told journalists the day after the council unanimously approved the 26,000-strong force.

After months of diplomatic wrangling aimed at replacing an under-equipped AU force of 7,000, the resolution authorised the world’s largest peacekeeping force for what the UN has called the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe.

In addition to the huge death toll, more than one third of Darfur’s six-million population has been displaced because of what the United States has branded a genocidal campaign by Khartoum against rebels.

The new force, which could begin deploying in October, will take over from the current AU mission to patrol a vast and mostly arid area in western Sudan roughly the size of France.

Akol also announced “our engagement in applying the part that concerns us” in Resolution 1769, after Khartoum finally agreed to the hybrid force on July 12 on condition that it be comprised essentially of African troops.

Besides requiring acceptance of the deployment, the resolution urges Khartoum and rebel groups to commit themselves to a permanent ceasefire and to join peace talks under AU-UN mediation.

The United States ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad had warned of “the swift adoption of unilateral and multilateral measures” against Khartoum if it failed to comply with the resolution.

Akol said the resolution “responded to several of Sudan’s reserves and concerns” and “only permits the use of force in self-defence” and to “protect civilians in conflict zones without damaging Sudan’s sovereignty.”
Posted by: Fred 2007-08-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=195088