Sudan close to scuttling UN troop deal on Darfur

United Nations, March 10: Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has contested UN plans for military deployment in Darfur, according to a letter circulated.

Bashir based his objections, centered mainly on putting the African Union in command and control functions, on the Darfur Peace Agreement in May between one rebel faction and the Khartoum government.

But since then the process has moved on with a UN-Sudanese negotiated deal in Addis Ababa on November 16, which was then endorsed by Sudan at an African Union meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, later in November.

UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Sudan's letter, which arrived on Thursday, ''contains some elements which seem to challenge the agreement reached last November in Addis Ababa and Abuja on peacekeeping in Darfur.''

Reuters