Darfur update: Maybe this is a far as the UN can go

Not very far, unless Sudan, China, Russia and Arab/Muslim states have a change of heart (?!?--see Update).

About 200 U.N. military and civilian staff will deploy to Darfur to support an African Union peace monitoring mission after Khartoum rejected a plan to send thousands of U.N. troops into western Sudan...

"U.N. staff deployed to Darfur ... would be fully dedicated to supporting the African Union operation and will operate under the operational control of (the AU)," the letter [a joint U.N.-AU letter to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir - MC] said.

Khartoum has rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution authorising a U.N. takeover of the cash-strapped AU mission in violent Darfur where experts say 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.

"It is understood that the overall planned support shall be conducted in transparency and with the full cooperation of the government of Sudan," the letter added.

Khartoum says it welcomes this support. The proposal looks to be a short-term fix for the deadlock over the deployment of U.N. troops between Khartoum and the international community...

Mark C.

Update: "The governments of Arab countries as well as China, India, Pakistan and Malaysia should put pressure on Sudan to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Wednesday." Good luck.

Posted by markc at October 10, 2006 04:52 PM