SUDAN:Sudanese officials working to finalise a deal on UN support for the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur have recommended Khartoum permit the use of attack helicopters by peacekeepers, the foreign ministry said.
"They have made a positive recommendation and it is now up to the leadership. The president must decide," foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig said yesterday.
The UN is nearing a deal with Khartoum to add 3,000 UN military personnel and equipment to the AU force, but Sudan has so far objected to fielding six attack helicopters.
Sudan also has not agreed to the next stage of an AU-UN Darfur operation, which would involve 25,000 troops and police.Some African countries with troops in Darfur have threatened to withdraw their forces if they are not better equipped.
The underfinanced and underequipped AU force has been unable to stop violence in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes, many to arid refugee camps.
Fighting began four years ago among the Arab-dominated government and militia who support them and African rebels, and it has spilled into neighbouring Chad.
Signs that the interim plan would be implemented came as US deputy secretary of state John Negroponte met with Sudanese officials in Khartoum to make a fresh push for the deployment of UN troops in Darfur, where struggling AU forces have failed to ease violence.
"The humanitarian situation in Darfur calls urgently for the dispatch of such a force and I think it is important that that be done as soon as possible," he said after meeting Sudanese foreign minister Lam Akol. Mr Negroponte, who is on a regional tour to push for a resolution to the Darfur conflict, said Washington would put its financial weight behind UN peacekeepers. But Khartoum has maintained its opposition to international troops, despite a US threat to impose tough measures against Sudan, including sanctions.
Sudan says an international force would be tantamount to recolonisation and turn Darfur into an Iraq-style magnet for jihadist fighters. Critics say Sudan fears UN troops would enforce International Criminal Court warrants for the arrests of war crimes suspects.
At the heart of the current debate is a disagreement over the outcome of a November meeting in Addis Ababa.
The UN says Khartoum agreed then to a three-phased plan that would end with a hybrid AU-UN operation in Darfur. Sudan said it only agreed to the first two phases, which involved UN logistical and financial support.
"What has been agreed upon is that the operation should be African in nature. The United Nations has a role to play and this role has been clearly defined," said Mr al-Sadig.