The joint assessment team sent by the United Nations and the African Union (AU) to Sudan on Friday demonstrated the cooperation between the two bodies in realizing peace in Sudan's western region of Darfur, officials said.

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said that the visit of the joint assessment team indicated the coordination between the two sides and represented a step in the right direction.

Jean Marie Guehenno, UN under-secretary general for peacekeeping operation, said that more progress was needed following the signing of a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and a main Darfur rebel faction in order to achieve peace and stability in Darfur.

He added that the mission of the joint team demonstrated that the UN and the AU could work together to serve the peace.

Spokesman of the AU Mission in Sudan, Nour al-Din Mazeni, told reporters that the visit of the joint assessment team which arrived in Khartoum earlier Friday would last for two weeks.

The team will travel to Darfur to assess the additional needs of the AU peacekeeping force, which must be immediately strengthened to enable the force to monitor the implementation of Darfur peace agreement.

He added that the joint team would undertake an assessment of all the requirements for a possible transition of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur from the AU to the UN.

The spokesman said that the joint team was made up of two groups, one political and the other technical.

The political group is to hold meetings with senior Sudanese officials in the coming four days before heading to Darfur next week, and the technical group will start a field inspection in Darfur on Sunday, Mazeni added.

Source: Xinhua