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Sudanese president shifts on Darfur

By Associated PRess
Published December 27, 2006

UNITED NATIONS - Sudan's president said he accepts a U.N. package to help end escalating violence in Darfur and is ready to discuss a cease-fire, according to a letter circulated Tuesday.

President Omar al-Bashir said in the letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Sudan is ready to implement recent agreements endorsing a U.N. plan to strengthen the beleaguered 7,000-strong African Union force in the western region of the country.

Bashir also dropped his opposition to a hybrid A.U.-U.N. force that would be deployed.

However, U.N. Security Council diplomats cautioned that Bashir remains opposed to any large-scale deployment of U.N. troops and has backtracked on agreements in the past. The letter also leaves unresolved the size and command of the hybrid force.

Bashir rejects a Security Council resolution adopted in August that called for more than 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers to replace the AU force, which has been unable to stop the violence that has killed more than 200,000 people and left 2.5-million displaced in Darfur since February 2003.

Bashir said the size of the hybrid AU-U.N. force should be determined by both organizations.

Fighting in Darfur began when rebels from black African tribes took up arms against Sudan's Arab-dominated government.

[Last modified December 27, 2006, 00:55:51]