Sudan minister says his country needs aid, not peacekeepers

Sudan needs help in developing its economy and attracting investment, not soldiers for peacekeeping, the country’s finance minister, Lual Deng, said today.

The Sudanese government has rejected proposals to deploy UN peacekeepers in its war-torn Darfur region.

“What we need is not soldiers, it’s development and assistance,” Deng told reporters on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

“What Darfur needs most is resources for water, for schools, for hospitals,” he said.

At least 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than 2 million have fled their homes since 2003, when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led government.

The government is accused of unleashing brutal Arab militiamen known as janjaweed in the remote western province.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir again rejected UN peacekeepers during a weekend meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.