China urges deployment of Darfur peacekeeping forces

March 13, 2007 (BEIJING) — China hopes the Sudanese government will reach a consensus with the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) as soon as possible on deploying peacekeeping forces in Darfur, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang here Tuesday.

Qin told a routine press conference that the Sudanese government and the international society have reached consensus in principle on deploying UN and AU peace-keeping forces in Darfur.

China believes that the three sides could agree on detailed arrangements and turned agreements into actions at an early time.

The Sudanese government announced last December that it had agreed on a UN-AU peacekeeping operation in Darfur instead of the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in the war-torn region.

The United Nations and the African Union have concluded that between 19,000 to 20,000 troops, together with 3,700 police officers and 19 police units will be required and the two will proceed to develop detailed operational plans.

The force represents the final phase of a three-phase plan agreed to by the United Nation, the African Union and the Sudanese government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last November, with the aim to end the fighting between the Sudanese government, allied militias and rebels, which broke out in 2003.

(Xinhua)