JURIST - Paper Chase: Sudan threatens African Union withdrawal if UN takes over Darfur peacekeeping

[JURIST] The Sudanese government has threatened to withdraw from the African Union (AU) [official website] if a proposed takeover [JURIST report] of the AU's peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region [JURIST news archive] by the United Nations goes into effect. The Sudan Tribune Saturday quoted a spokesman for the Sudanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs [official website, English] as saying, "We will resist this attempt and respond strongly to it even if that leads to the withdrawal from the AU and the review of Sudan’s membership in the African organization." The threat comes just before a scheduled March 10 meeting of AU officials to discuss future troop deployments in the region.

In January, the AU issued a report [PDF text] which described the AU's limited peacekeeping resources and discussed a possible handover to the UN at an appropriate time. UN officials have been pushing [JURIST report] for a UN-led Darfur peacekeeping mission, which has thusfar been strongly opposed by the Sudanese government [JURIST report]. The Sudan Tribune has local coverage.

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