Ireland backs UN efforts in Darfur

DUBLIN Oct 16 (AFP) — Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern pledged support for United Nations efforts in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region Saturday following talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, his spokeswoman said.

The wide-ranging discussions were “very successful and useful”, she said.

“They covered a wide number of international issues including developments in Darfur, Sudan. The Taoiseach (prime minister) expressed his support for full intervention.”

During the two hours of talks over lunch at the Farmleigh government guesthouse in Dublin, Ahern also briefed Annan on the latest developments in efforts to restore a power sharing administration in Northern Ireland, the spokeswoman added.

Annan, who is on a four-day visit to the Republic, has already met President Mary McAleese and Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.

He has emphasised the need for more blue helmet UN peacekeepers, particularly from EU countries, saying the UN “desperately” needs 30,000 more troops as well as civilian personnel and police.

The United Nations has threatened sanctions against Sudan unless it tackles the situation in the western region of Darfur, where a 20-month-old civil war has killed an estimated 70,000 people.