Omar al-Bashir the Sudanese president finally welcomed UN support for the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in the Darfur region. The agreement was announced at a meeting in Ethiopia that gathered senior officials from the AU, the Arab League, the European Union, Sudan, the United States, China, Russia, Egypt, France and a half-dozen African countries.

Sudan is strongly opposed to allowing UN peacekeepers into Darfur, saying such a move would violate its sovereignty. The Sudanese foreign minister insisted the accord entailed the provision of only UN technical assistance, not peacekeepers. UN chief Kofi Annan said a compromise had been reached, explaining that “the troops should be sourced from Africa as far as possible and the command and control structure would be provided by the UN.”

The force could be as large as 27,000, including the existing 7,000-member AU peacekeeping force already in Darfur. In August, the UN Security Council voted to replace the AU’s 7,000 troops with 20,000 UN peacekeepers. However, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir refused to allow their deployment, saying the force would be comprised of “neocolonialists.”

Pro-government militia forces known as janjaweed have stepped up attacks on villages in Darfur recently, killing dozens of people. The militiamen are accused of atrocities in a conflict that has killed some 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million from their homes. In one raid, janjaweed militiamen, backed by government troops, forced children into a thatched hut, then set it ablaze, killing parents who tried to rescue the children. The Sudanese army has denied any connection to janjaweed attacks.

The Sudanese Defense Minister said Darfur will become an “invaders’ graveyard” if UN forces enter. The conflict has destabilized a region that includes parts of neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic. Ethnic violence mirroring attacks in Darfur has been seen in Chad in recent weeks, with more than 300 people killed in raids there since the end of October.

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