USA: Sudan backs down on U.N. troop warning, says the United States

Sudan has backed away from a warning to dozens of countries not to pledge troops to a U.N. force for Darfur, the United States said on Friday (October 6). In an unsigned letter to dozens of countries earlier this week, Sudan warned that any nation pledging U.N. troops for its vast Darfur region was committing a "hostile act", which was a "prelude to an invasion." But on Friday, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Sudan's ambassador to Washington and its United Nations envoy told the State Department and the U.N. Security Council president the letter no longer reflected Khartoum's policy. "We take it that the Sudanese have backed down and they have rejected this policy of trying to threatened troop contributors with hostile action if countries volunteer troops to serve in Darfur. And we think that's significant. I know there were some people who said we should just let this letter pass quietly, that was obviously the wrong approach. I think our strong position and the strong position that many many other members of the Security Council took yesterday have resulted in the Sudanese government backing away from the letter," he said. The U.N. Security Council has authorized a peacekeeping force of up to 22,500 troops and police for Darfur, but Sudan has repeatedly refused to agree to the operation. Bolton said a number of governments said Thursday they thought it was time the Security Council issued a new statement on Sudan. Bolton's draft of a Security Council statement, circulated on Thursday, would "deplore" the Sudan mission's attempt "to intimidate potential troop contributing countries volunteering forces for a peacekeeping mission in Darfur." Sudan's ambassador to the U.N., Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Halim Mohammed however said that they were not involved in intimidating any of the countries and their position has not changed over the past few days. "In fact there is no hostility in the letter at all. The letter is a very clear reflection of our views vis-a-vis the issue of 1706, the issue of mandate of AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan) and UNMIS (United Nations Mission in Sudan), the issue of augmenting the African Union forces and the issue of the consent of the government of Sudan on any deployment of forces in Darfur. Those are a reiteration of our position. They still hold, there is no change in them. But we did not intimidate, we are victim of intimidation. We cannot intimidate other states," said Mohammed. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Thursday, in his monthly report on Darfur, that the region was "on the brink of a catastrophic situation" and that a desperately needed humanitarian operation may have to be drastically cut. An under-financed African Union force of 7,000 troops and monitors have been unable to stop the violence that has driven 2.5 million people from their homes and left at least 200,000 dead since 2003. Fighting among armed rebels, militia and bandits has continued, despite Khartoum's decision to send more troops to Darfur. Khartoum has refused a U.N. takeover of the cash-strapped and struggling African Union force in Darfur. The Security Council voted to extend the existing United Nations mandate in Sudan for an additional six months. The vote was largely procedural and is not related to the controversial issue of U.N. troops in Darfur.

ITN Source | October 7, 2006

Tags:. .threatened. .dozens. .african. .longer. .extend