UN extends Sudan peacekeeping mission

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

US ambassador John Bolton said last night the council decided on a two-week extension, with the intention of extending it further after that expired, 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.