Sudan rejects unlimited extension of AU force in Darfur

The Sudanese government has announced its opposition to an unlimited extension of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force's the mandate in Sudan's restive western region of Darfur, local Sudan Tribune daily reported on its website on Sunday.

The announcement came after UN Envoy in Sudan Jan Pronk proposed last Thursday that the international community should push for the existing AU mission to be prolonged indefinitely in view that a UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur is unlikely to take place soon.

Representative of the Sudanese president in charge of Darfur affairs Mohamed Ahmad Al-Dabi said in a statement that the government does not accept any extension of the AU force beyond what had been agreed on in the African Peace and Security Council meeting in New York last month.

He said that the government's approval was limited to what had been specified to only salvage the peace agreement in Darfur.

Al-Dabi added that Pronk's proposal would not change the government's principle of refusing the deployment of international peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

He called on the world community to live up to its responsibilities to back the peace initiatives in the region rather than talking about other alternatives.

In August, the UN Security Council agreed to send a force of some 17,000 troops and 3,000 police forces to Darfur to take over from the existing African Union force, whose mission has been extended until Dec. 31.

But the Sudanese government has repeatedly rejected the offer, arguing that such a move risks worsening the situation in the region.

Source: Xinhua