Saudi says Sudan, UN, AU ink Darfur deployment deal

Riyadh, Apr 16: Sudan has signed an agreement with the United Nations and the African Union (AU) on the deployment of African and UN forces in Darfur, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia's ''King Abdullah received a telephone call from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in which he informed him that the Sudanese government has signed an agreement with the United Nation and the AU that determines the duties and role of the African and UN forces in the Darfur region,'' SPA said yesterday.

The agency did not give further details about the agreement, which it said was brokered in Riyadh during the Arab summit held in the Saudi capital late in March.

The United Nations was nearing a deal with Khartoum to add 3,000 UN military personnel and equipment to the AU force under a so-called heavy support package but Sudan had objected to the UN fielding six attack helicopters.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Lam Akol said earlier on Sunday that Khartoum will take as many more AU troops as needed to stabilise Darfur but would not bow to international pressure to accept a UN force in the troubled region.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has pressed Sudanese officials to accept thousands of UN peacekeepers to support the world's biggest humanitarian effort there.

Experts estimate about 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have fled their homes since the Darfur conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against government forces, saying Khartoum had neglected the area.

Reuters