U.S. says Sudan will accept UN peacekeepers

A senior U.S. official said on Thursday that Sudan, which objects the deployment of UN forces in Darfur, will ultimately accept UN peacekeepers in the turmoil region.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, who delivered a message from President George W. Bush to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir this week, said she believed he would consent to a UN force to end what Washington says is genocide in Darfur.

"What the (Sudanese) government said to me very clearly is they welcome any effort to support and to strengthen the African Union forces that are in Darfur," said Frazer, referring to the 7,000 African troops struggling to keep the peace in Darfur.

"I'm very confident that ultimately they will accept," Frazer noted.

It was reported that in his letter to Bashir, Bush urged Sudan to drop its objections to the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops.

The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution by 12- 0 to create a UN peacekeeping force of up to 22,500 in Darfur.

The resolution also provided for an immediate injection of air, engineering and communications support for the existing African force, whose mandate expires on Sept. 30.

Tens of thousands of people were reportedly killed since turmoil occurred in Darfur in early 2003.

Source: Xinhua