Sudan withdraws warning on peacekeepers for Darfur – US

Oct 5, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — Sudan has withdrawn a warning to other governments that supporting the dispatch of U.N. peacekeepers to the troubled Darfur region would be considered a “hostile act.”

The warning letter was sent to several nations on Tuesday and disclosed Thursday as the United Nations persisted in trying to overcome President Omar el-Bashir’s rejection of a U.N. resolution calling for U.N. peacekeepers to bolster a weak African Union force in Darfur.

The Sudanese leader has refused to admit them, rebuffing even a letter from President George W. Bush.

In withdrawing the warning, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the Sudanese government has “made it clear to us that somehow offering contributions to a U.N. force could be some kind of hostile act in fact does not reflect the policy of the government.”

“I’m pleased to say we have gotten this clarification,” Casey said.

A newly-named U.S. envoy, Andrew Natsios, is awaiting a visa from Sudan. Casey said he had applied only a few days ago, so there has been no undue delay in processing the request.

Natsios is expected to visit a number of other countries as well to seek support for trying to end the violence in Sudan, Casey said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a Middle East trip earlier this week, spoke passionately of the loss of life in Darfur and the shortage of food and water for displaced victims of the violence.

She appealed to other countries, particularly Muslim nations, for help.

Casey said Friday there had been a positive response from Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region. He provided no specific details.

Natsios intends to follow up on Rice’s appeal “to try and bring additional support from some of Sudan’s neighbors and some of Sudan’s fellow members of the Arab League” to help resolve the Darfur crisis, Casey said.

(AP/ST)