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UN will never accept a rejection from Albashir to a strong peacekeeping operation in Darfur
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By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer Tue Mar 20,
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations will never accept a rejection from Sudan‘s president to a strong peacekeeping operation in Darfur because the conflict is hurting millions of people in the region, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said Monday.
Jean-Marie Guehenno briefed the U.N. Security Council U.N. Security Council on President Omar al-Bashir‘s rejection of all but a very limited role for the United Nations in supporting African Union troops in the vast area of western Sudan.
"We‘ll never take any reaction as a rejection," Guehenno said. "We can‘t afford that and the people in Darfur can‘t afford that. ... We are prepared to clarify any detail in what is on offer."
He also has raised objections to the final stage of a U.N. plan that calls for a 22,000-strong joint U.N.-AU peacekeeping mission.
Khartoum is accused of having responded with indiscriminate killings by unleashing the janjaweed militias of Arab nomads blamed for the worst atrocities in Darfur. The government denies these charges.
Guehenno said the situation on the ground "requires urgent action."
In his letter, al-Bashir was very supportive of a joint U.N.-AU effort to get rebel groups that refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement last May back to the negotiating table.
"It‘s true that recently there has been an improvement in the situation but fundamentally the situation remains extremely bad in Darfur so we do believe that it‘s important to have a strong peacekeeping presence there."
"We see refugees going as far as Cameroon so it‘s a situation really that is hurting millions of people in the region," Guehenno said.
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