International monitors should not harm Sudan’s sovereignty: VP

KHARTOUM, Feb 27, 2005 (Xinhua) — Sudanese First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha said on Sunday that the existence of an international monitoring force in the south would not harm Sudan’s sovereignty and unity, the official SUNA news agency reported.

Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha.

The government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) agreed to allow the international monitoring force into the south, Taha said, adding that the force is tasked with helping preserve peace and unity in Sudan.

He said this move was in accordance with a peace agreement between the government and the SPLM, which was signed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Jan. 9, ending two decades of a civil war in southern Sudan.

The United States has proposed a 10,000-strong UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in southern Sudan to help enforce the ceasefire agreement.

The UN Security Council indicated it would consider sending a peacekeeping mission to Sudan, which would probably number between 9,000 and 10,000.