Sudan reiterates refusal of international peacekeepers

Source: Xinhuanet | 11-27-2006 15:45

Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem talks with reporters at the United Nations, Friday, Oct. 27, 2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

KHARTOUM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said on Monday that deployment of international peacekeepers in the western region of Darfur would lead to re-colonization of the country, reiterating Khartoum's refusal of the UN move.

Al-Bashir said that the Sudanese government would never accept UN Security Council Resolution 1706 which stipulated the deployment of more than 20,000 international peacekeeping force subordinate to the world body to replace 7,800-strong African troops currently in Darfur.

"The peacekeeping force in Darfur must be African, and the command of this forces must also be African," he said.

Al-Bashir also refused proposal of deploying a joint UN-AU force in Darfur, saying that this proposal was only "another version of Resolution 1706."

He said that the UN could only play a supplementary role in Darfur by providing logistic and material support for the African force, adding that the Sudanese government would continue to cooperate with the United Nations despite its refusal of Resolution 1706.

He reiterated the government's commitment to contacting rebel groups which refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement to convince them to join the peace process.

He also denied news reports that some 200,000 people had been killed in Darfur, putting the number at 9,000.

Editor:Ji Xuewen