China says Sudan consent is unavoidable for UN troops

Sept 19, 2006 (BEIJING) — The Chinese government on Tuesday urged discretion on the issue of deploying UN peacekeepers in Darfur and said the deployment should first have the permission of the Sudanese government.

“The issue should be fully discussed and especially approved by the Sudanese government and relevant African organizations and countries, so the peacekeeping actions can make real achievements,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Qin said the Chinese government’s consistent stance was that peacekeeping actions should first have the permission of the country concerned, not only on the issue of Darfur, but also in other actions in which China had participated.

China had always been concerned about the situation in Darfur and done everything it could to help, said Qin.

He said China had provided humanitarian aid to Sudan and assistance for the peace-keeping troops of the African Union (AU) in the region. Moreover, China had actively consulted with the Sudanese government.

Last month, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that would allow the United Nations to assume control over the peacekeeping mission in Darfur from the AU, whose mandate is to expire on Sept. 30.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced because of conflict in the troubled Darfur region.

(Xinhua/ST)