SUDAN:Sudan has agreed to the deployment, mandate and structure of a combined United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force for its troubled Darfur region, a senior AU official said yesterday.
Reading a statement after two days of meetings in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, AU peace and security commissioner Said Djinnit said Khartoum had agreed to a force of between 17,000 and 19,000 troops after "clarifications" from AU and UN officials.
"The government of Sudan accepted the joint proposal on the hybrid operation," Mr Djinnit said. "Agreement was also reached, in particular, on specific recommendations about the mandate and structure of the operation and details on its various components and tasks."
He did not elaborate, but said that the agreement also called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and an inclusive political process in Darfur. And he appealed to the UN Security Council to authorise the deployment of the force without delay.
Mr Djinnit said that Sudan had raised the issue of an "exit strategy" for the peacekeepers, and all parties had agreed that the operation would be periodically reviewed. He did not say how often. The majority of the troops would be African, he added.
Non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur in early 2003, accusing the government of not heeding their plight. Khartoum then armed the Arab Janjaweed militia. Experts estimate that 200,000 people have died and two million more have been expelled from their homes. In the past year rebel groups have been fighting each other. Sudan claims 9,000 people have died. - ( Reuters)