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U.S., U.N. Chiefs Agree on Large Darfur Force

U.S. President Bush and U.N. Secretary General Annan agreed last week on the need for a bigger, more mobile peacekeeping force in Sudan`s troubled Darfur region during a meeting at the White House in Washington, but Sec-Gen Annan made no specific requests for U.S. military help at that time. Speaking to reporters after the Oval Office session, Annan said it was premature to ask for more than a general commitment from the United States until the United Nations itself determines what it needs for a planned peacekeeping force in Darfur.

The United Nations is making plans to send as many as 20,000 troops to help stabilize the huge Darfur region, which is the size of France, where about 7,000 peacekeepers from the African Union have been struggling to end the bloodshed being inflicted on black civilians by government-backed Arab militias. The United States has sent a small contingent of military strategists to help plan the U.N. intervention in Darfur.

According to Annan, "It is not going to be easy for the big and powerful countries with armies to delegate to Third World countries. They will have to play a part if we are going to stop the carnage that we see in Darfur." He went on to say that a peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan needs modern communications and rapid air transport to intervene in time to stop violence - all of which are beyond the capabilities of African Union peacekeepers at this time.