Sudan says UN only needed for logistics in Darfur

Khartoum, Apr 7: Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol today reiterated that the United Nations should only play a logistical role supporting African Union troops in Darfur.

''We will not renegotiate,'' Akol told Reuters when asked whether his country would accept the deployment of UN troops in the violence-plagued region.

Sudan has rebuffed international demands to allow the deployment of a large UN force, saying supporting the under-funded and ill-equipped 7,000-strong AU force would be enough to stabilise the region.

At the heart of the debate with Western powers is the outcome of a November meeting in Addis Ababa. The United Nations says Khartoum agreed then to a three-phase plan that would end with a hybrid AU-UN operation in Darfur.

Sudan said it only agreed to the first two phases of UN logistical and financial support. Akol today said his country was not about to review its position.

He was speaking after the arrival of African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare for talks with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Experts estimate that 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million fled their homes in Darfur since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the central government.

Khartoum says only 9,000 died.

REUTERS