Arab League, US at odd over UN Darfur forces

Oct 21, 2006 (CAIRO) — The US envoy to Sudan says he has agreed “concrete and practical measures” with Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa to solve the Darfur crisis, but admitted they had failed to reach a conclusion over deploying UN peacekeeping troops there.

“We did discuss the UN forces but we didn’t reach a conclusion,” Andrew Natsios told reporters after meeting Mussa in Cairo.

He called for quick action to solve the crisis in the war-torn region, warning that further delays would lead to failure.

“We need to move quickly because the longer we delay things to be done, the greater is the risk of failure,” he said, without elaborating on what had been agreed with Mussa.

“We are trying to find some way of bridging the gap between the position of the Sudanese government and the position of the UN,” Natsios added.

The United States has been pushing for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1706 which calls for the deployment of UN troops in Darfur to take over from the ill-equipped and cash-strapped African Union peacekeepers.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir has repeatedly rejected accepting the presence of foreign troops which he said would amount to an “occupation.”

The Arab League has said that the deployment of UN troops should only take place with Khartoum’s full agreement.

Natsios arrived in Egypt on Friday after a week-long visit to Sudan, his first since being nominated Sudan envoy by US President George W. Bush earlier this month.

While in Cairo, Natsios is also due to meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and the country’s intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman.

(AFP)