Twenty military staff officers and five police advisors would be
deployed by the United Nations in the western Sudanese region of
Darfur in the coming week, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
announced in a statement on Wednesday.
Until now, 27 UN military staff officers and 25 UN police
advisors have been deployed in Darfur in support to the troops of
the African Union (AU) Mission in Sudan (AMIS), according to the
light Support Package worked out by the UN, the AU and the Sudanese
government in last November.
The total of UN personnel to be deployed in support to AMIS in
the framework of the Light Support package is 105 military staff
officers, 33 police advisors and 48 civilian staff.
The Sudanese government has reiterated its rejection of the
deployment of international troops in Darfur, saying that a UN-AU
hybrid force to be formed in Darfur according to understandings
reached between the three parties should remain African.
Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir stressed on Tuesday that his
government had only approved the plan of the hybrid peacekeeping
force provided that this force was to be African and African-led,
with logistical support from the UN.
(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2007)