The government of the Sudan has refused to allow U.N. peacekeeping forces into the Darfur region of the Sudan.
Sudanese leader Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir met with U.N. Secretary-General Koffi Annan yesterday during an African Union (A.U.) summit in Gambia. At the meeting, Bashir agreed to allow African Union troops to remain in the area but refused to allow an U.N. soldiers in to keep the peace.
The A.U. presently has 7,000 troops in Darfur but they are overstretched and lack the necessary resources to do their jobs properly. The A.U.'s mandate was set to expire in September but has now been extended.
Despite Sudan's refusal to allow U.N. troops in at this time, Annan remained optimistic they would eventually see a peacekeeping role in Darfur.
'In the world of politics, things change, Annan told reporters after speaking to Bashir. 'We hear 'never,' 'forever,' and yet it does come around. And so I'm still expecting that in time there will be a U.N. peacekeeping force deployed to Darfur.'
Approximately 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur in fights between ethnic Arabs and ethnic Africans. More than 2 million people have been forcibly removed from their homes by pro-Arab militias known as Janjaweed. The government in Khartoum has been accused of supporting the militias, an accusation which the government denies. President Bush and most international human rights organizations describe the events as genocide.
Additional talks are expected on the issue as the African Union has expressed a desire to have its troops leave Darfur before the end of the year. Meanwhile, the killing and displacement continue.
