Denmark ready to contribute to international force in Darfur

June 11, 2007 (COPENHAGEN) — Denmark said Monday it was ready to contribute to an international force in Darfur and urged world leaders to pressure Sudan to accept a UN peacekeeping force in the troubled province.

“We need to put a maximum amount of pressure on the Sudanese regime to get them to accept a UN resolution, a solution to resolve this problem,” Danish Defence Minister Soeren Gade told AFP.

“And all countries, including Denmark, should contribute to a possible solution to this conflict,” he said.

The four-year conflict has killed at least 200,000 people and forced more than two million from their homes, according to the United Nations. Sudan contests the figures, saying 9,000 people have died.

Denmark is “ready to contribute at all levels,” Gade said, adding that Danish political parties were following the situation “with growing concern”.

Sudan has accepted two parts of a three-phase plan proposed last year for peacekeeping operations in Darfur, but is still to agree to the details of the final phase.

The proposal is for the deployment of a 23,000-strong peacekeeping force to replace the current 7,000 African Union soldiers in the region.

The United Nations wants its own command system, but Sudan wants the force to be under African control.

(AFP)