US New Mexico asked to secure approval Sudan for UN force

Dec 18, 2006 (ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico) — Gov. Bill Richardson, in his familiar role as a diplomatic troubleshooter, has been asked to travel to Sudan to help persuade the country’s government to accept a peacekeeping force in the war-torn Darfur region.

“Governor Richardson is very honored by the request of the Save Darfur Coalition and he would like to help,” said Pahl Shipley, a Richardson spokesman. “This is a very serious situation. He is currently consulting with the State Department, the Sudanese government and the United Nations.”

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution that provides for beefing up the poorly funded and equipped 7,000-troop African Union force to about 22,000 peacekeepers under U.N. leadership.

“That’s where we’re hoping the governor can help,” said Colleen Connors, spokeswoman for the Save Darfur Coalition, an umbrella group of more than 160 humanitarian and religious organizations lobbying for greater action to halt the violence in Darfur.

For nearly four years, Sudanese troops and the janjaweed militia have been fighting Darfur’s ethnic African rebels, who revolted against what they saw as decades of neglect and discrimination by the Khartoum government.

U.N. and African Union officials have accused the government of arming the janjaweed and coordinating attacks with them — a charge Khartoum denies. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes.

Richardson, a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, is often cast in the role of diplomatic troubleshooter, particularly in dealing with North Korea — a country with which he has a long relationship and has visited five times.

(AP)