Ahern urges Sudan to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has urged the Sudanese government to allow UN peacekeepers into the Darfur region in an effort to end years of conflict.

An estimated 200,000 people have died since local rebels began fighting for greater autonomy in the region in 2003, while another 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes.

The Sudanese government has refused to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur to calm the situation

Mr Ahern met Sudan's foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, today as part of a week-long trip to Africa and said afterwards that the Sudanese government should seriously consider a deployment of UN peacekeepers.

However, Mr Ismael said his government would not be forced into any decision.

"It is a question of defining what are the parameters that will help us take the right decision," he said.