UN force would risk Hezbollah-like resistance – Sudan’s Bashir

Aug 15, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Sudan has taken inspiration from Hezbollah and would battle a proposed international peacekeeping force in the Darfur region, the state news agency reported Tuesday.

The statements by al-Bashir appeared to strengthen Sudan’s resolve to resist a possible U.N.-backed force to end the bloodshed and ongoing refugee crisis.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in the western region since 2003, when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government.

“We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hezbollah has defeated the Israeli forces,” the official Sudanese News Agency quoted al-Bashir as telling an armed forces gathering Monday.

Last week, the U.S. repeated its demand for deployment of a strong and mobile U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur by Oct. 1. The top U.N. humanitarian official, Jan Egelund, said the situation is “going from real bad to catastrophic” after attempts to enforce a peace deal unleashed more fighting.

“We are opposed to the deployment (in Darfur) of American, British or other forces imposed by the Security Council,” al-Bashir said.

(AP/ST)