UN extends Sudan peacekeeping mission

The UN Security Council voted unanimously today to extend the mandate of UN peacekeepers monitoring a peace deal that ended a 21-year civil war in southern Sudan.

US Ambassador John Bolton said the council decided on a two-week extension, with the intention of extending it further after that expires, after the African Union Peace and Security Council agreed on Wednesday to keep its 7,000-strong force in conflict-wracked Darfur in western Sudan until the end of the year.