Sudan views UN peace force as ‘hostile act’

THE US yesterday demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss a letter in which Sudan’s government said it would view any troop commitments to a future UN peacekeeping force in Darfur as a “hostile act” and a “prelude to an invasion”, a US official said.

In the unsigned letter, dated October 3, Sudan reiterated that it rejects a Security Council resolution that would give the UN authority to replace an African Union peacekeeping mission that has been unable to stem the violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

The letter is addressed to the UN mission of New Zealand, and refers to a UN note asking nations to nominate police personnel for an unspecified force.

“In the absence of Sudan’s consent to the deployment of UN troops, any volunteering to provide peacekeeping troops to Darfur will be considered as a hostile act, a prelude to an invasion of a member country of the UN,” the Sudanese letter said.

US mission spokesman Richard Grenell said it wants the Security Council to approve a statement addressing the letter.