UN extends south Sudan peacekeeping mandate

October 31, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — The U.N. Security Council voted on Wednesday to extend the mandate of a peacekeeping operation in southern Sudan for six months, urging all sides to implement a peace deal that has foundered.

The United Nations Mission in the Sudan, which is separate from a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force due to deploy in Darfur next year, was established in March 2005 to monitor a peace agreement that ended a war in the south of the country. It numbers around 10,000 troops.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended a two-decade-long civil war between the north and south that killed 2 million people and displaced more than 4 million.

But the deal was thrown into crisis when former southern rebels withdrew from Sudan’s coalition government this month after complaining they were being sidelined and key elements of the peace deal were being ignored.

The Security Council resolution urged all parties to meet their commitments under the peace deal, particularly in terms of redeployment of forces, border demarcation and preparations for free and fair elections.

Peace talks aimed at solving the separate conflict in Darfur started over the weekend in Libya, but key rebel factions have boycotted the negotiations.

The resolution noted that “successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is essential to resolution of the crisis in Darfur and to sustainable peace and stability in the region.”

It also condemned “acts of violence perpetrated by all sides,” and called for the full deployment of the Darfur peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID.

(Reuters)