UN Approves Deployment of Troops to Darfur
31 August 2006
The United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution calling for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to Darfur.
Under terms of the resolution, the U.N. would absorb and expand an African Union force that has not been able to control rampant violence in the western Sudanese region. The deployment would not occur without the approval of Sudan's government, which has so far rejected the idea of U.N. intervention.
Twelve of the Security Council's 15 members voted Thursday in favor of the resolution. Russia, China and Qatar all abstained.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, told reporters he is pleased with the Council's decision. He said it is important to implement the U.N. plan immediately.
Three and a half years of fighting in Darfur has killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced another two million.
The U.S. and other countries have described the situation in Darfur as a genocide. Sudan's government has been accused of arming militias to crush rebels in a brutal campaign of rape and murder.
On Wednesday, several hundred people demonstrated in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, against any attempt to send U.N. troops to their country. Protesters at the government-sponsored rally said they would fight foreign troops if they entered Darfur.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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