UN force deployment in South Sudan at 60 percent

Feb 1, 2006 (CAIRO) — Only 60 percent of UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan have been deployed nine months after the world body’s mission to bolster the north-south peace deal began, a UN spokesperson said Wednesday.

“The deployment of military observers and force protection elements in southern Sudan is in progress and as of now, the total military personnel stands at 5,902,” said Radhia Achouri.

Six months after the start of the deployment of the 10,000-strong UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS), officials had said they were on target to complete it by the end of 2005.

The United Nations is pushing for a deployment of its own troops to replace embattled African Union peacekeepers in the troubled western region of Darfur, where fighting still rages despite peace negotiations.

Achouri said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special representative in Sudan Jan Pronk would travel to Abuja for three days on February 10 to discuss ongoing AU-sponsored peace talks between Khartoum and the rebels.

(ST)