Sudan’s FM opposes UN peacekeepers in Darfur

Nov 9, 2006 (SEOUL) — Sudan’s foreign minister said Thursday he was opposed to the United Nations’ plan to send peacekeepers to Darfur, after talks with his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon, the next UN chief.

“I don’t understand why the UN tries to send troops to Darfur,” Lam Akol Ajawin told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, adding that the African Union should continue to take command in handling the crisis in Darfur.

“We also want a speedy resolution to the issue. But it is a matter to be handled by the Sudanese government and the African Union,” said Ajawin, who is on a two-day trip to Seoul as part of a tour of Asia that also took him to Japan.

“We are resolved to address it, as shown in the peace talks in Abuja that started in 2004.”

At least 200,000 people have died from fighting, famine and disease in the Darfur region and 2.5 million others have been displaced since early 2003 in what Washington calls a genocide against black Africans by Arab-led forces.

The government denies accusations of ethnic cleansing and says the figures are exaggerated.

Sudan has resisted a UN Security Council resolution in July mandating the deployment of some 20,000 peacekeepers to replace an under-funded African Union force in the vast western province.

Ban’s aides said the talks focused on ways of resolving the Darfur crisis, Yonhap reported.

South Korea’s foreign minister has expressed his willingness to take swift action on the issue when he assumes office as the UN chief in January.

(AFP)