UN invites Sudanese FM for talks on Darfur takeover

Mar 30, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — The Top United Nations political official has invited the Sudan’s Foreign Minister to the world body’s New York Headquarters to hold discussions on transitioning from an African Union (AU) force in the country’s troubled Darfur region to a UN peacekeeping operation there.

Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told reporters of the initiative today in the Sudanese capital Khartoum where he is meeting with officials who attended the League of Arab States Summit that closed yesterday.

In discussions with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Foreign Minister Lam Akol, Gambari “stressed that the United Nations, if it were to deploy forces, would build on and complement the good work of the AU to achieve peace, security and stability all over the Sudan,” a UN spokesperson said in New York.

Gambari also met with the Special Representative of the AU in Sudan to discuss that organization’s continuing role in Darfur, where much of the population continues to be caught in a conflict between the Government, militias and rebel forces, and where close to 200,000 people have already died, with over two million displaced.

Because of the continuing violence, last Friday the Security Council requested Secretary-General Kofi Annan to present options for transition to a UN operation in Darfur by 24 April.

(UN News/ST)