US urges quick action on Darfur peacekeepers

Aug 30, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The U.N. Security Council must quickly pass a resolution to approve U.N. peacekeepers for the embattled Darfur region in western Sudan, the State Department says.

“United Nations peacekeepers are urgently needed to end the violence,” department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement. “There must be no delay in the transition from the African Union force to the U.N. peacekeeping force.”

The mandate of the small, poorly armed AU force now patrolling the region expires Sept. 30. Those troops have failed to bring security to the area, which has seen more than 200,000 people killed since February 2003. The U.N. peacekeeping force would be larger and better equipped.

Sudan’s president, Omar el-Bashir, staunchly opposes the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping troops in Darfur and plans to send a Sudanese government force to the region. On Monday, el-Bashir said he would send an envoy to Washington to discuss the matter.

(AP/ST)