Sudan okays international Darfur observers

CAIRO, Aug 09, 2004 (UPI) — Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail said Monday his country will accept foreign observers in Darfur but no troops.

“We are opposed to any foreign military intervention in Darfur because we have more than 40,000 Sudanese troops and we fear foreign peacekeepers would (create) problems with the local population in Darfur,” Ismail told a press conference in Cairo a day after Arab foreign ministers met to discuss the humanitarian crisis in western Sudan.

Ismail said Khartoum agreed to the deployment of foreign observers to monitor the disarmament of the government-backed Janjaweed Arab militia, accused by the international community of ethnic cleansing and massacres against African tribes.

Ismail asked his colleagues in the 22-member Arab League at their meeting Sunday to supply Sudanese police and security forces in the Darfur province with much-needed technical and logistic support.

Ismail said Khartoum is ready to resume unconditional peace negotiations with the Darfur rebels in Abuja, Nigeria, on Aug. 23.