UN-AFRICAN UNION MISSION CHIEF MEETS WITH PRESIDENT OF SUDAN IN DARFUR

UN-AFRICAN UNION MISSION CHIEF MEETS WITH PRESIDENT OF SUDAN IN DARFUR New York, Jul 23 2008 5:00PM
The head of the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) met today with President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan at the mission's headquarters in El Fasher.

The Sudanese President reassured UNAMID Joint Special Representative Rodolphe Adada of the Government's preparedness to provide security for the mission's security and convoys.

The mission reported that the deployment of an Egyptian engineering unit had to be postponed after the airport was closed for the President's visit. New dates for the deployment are yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, UNAMID announced that it is continuing to suspend the temporary relocation of its non-essential UN personnel. 300 people were moved out of Darfur before the relocation was halted last Friday.

After eight blue helmets were killed in two separate attacks earlier this month, UNAMID recently reported that the situation in Darfur has been calm, with the mission continuing patrols and UN agencies maintaining humanitarian operations.

Earlier this week, Mr. Adada met Amr Moussa, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, to discuss cooperation and peace in Darfur in the wake of the recent war crimes charges laid by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor against the Sudanese President.

Some 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed as a result of direct combat, disease or malnutrition since 2003. Another 2.7 million people have been displaced because of fighting between rebels, government forces and allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed.
2008-07-23 00:00:00.000

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