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SUDAN: PRESIDENT AL-BASHIR WARNS AGAINST UN FORCE February 27, 2006
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, has said Darfur will become a graveyard for any foreign military contingent entering the region against Khartoum's will, Arab news reported Monday.
"We are strongly opposed to any foreign intervention in Sudan, and Darfur will be a graveyard for any foreign troops venturing to enter," al-Bashir said Sunday.
Al-Bashir’s comments came amid stepped-up efforts by the international community to send UN peacekeeping forces to war-torn Darfur in place of African Union troops, which have failed to quell the three-year-old bloodshed.
President al-Bashir, who accuses the US and its allies of fomenting a conspiracy to plunder his country's resources, again accused the West of seeking to use the western region of Darfur as a launch pad to spread its interests in Sudan.
Ironically, the US, which currently holds chairmanship of the UN Security Council, saw its hopes of clinching a resolution for a UN mandate in Darfur by the end of the month dashed, but has said it will continue its efforts.
Mean while the transition is expected to be discussed during an AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa on 3 March.