US says UN deployment in Darfur should be immediate

Aug 22, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The State Department called Tuesday for deployment of a U.N. force in Sudan’s Darfur region without delay to deal with what it called the deteriorating situation there.

“Only a large, mobile, fast-reacting and robust U.N. peacekeeping force is capable of confronting the multiple, complex challenges that currently exist in Darfur,” State Department press officer Curtis Cooper said.

The Sudanese government has opposed the establishment of a U.N. force for Darfur.

A financially-strapped African Union force is deployed in Darfur but says only a much larger and better equipped U.N. force can handle peacekeeping operations over the long term.

Cooper said a U.N. force would be able to protect the more than 2 million internally displaced persons and stop the sexual violence against women and young girls.

(AP/ST)