, Sudan said its argument against the deployment of U.N. troops in Darfur prevailed during talks with U.N. chief Kofi Annan this month which ended the confrontation between Khartoum and the world body.
Presidential advisor Mustafa Osman Ismail also said on Nov. 29 that talks with rebel factions who reject a May peace deal signed by only one group should begin in December to bring them on board the peace process.
“The meetings in Addis Ababa put (U.N. Security Council) resolution 1706 aside … This is a big transformation in the U.N. position,” he told a news conference, referring to talks between Annan and a delegation led by Foreign Minister Lam Akol.
Sudan has rejected U.N. Security Resolution 1706 authorizing around 22,500 U.N. troops and police to deploy to Darfur calling it an attempt to recolonize the African country.
“The meetings … changed the relationship between the Sudanese government and the U.N. to dialogue instead of confrontation,” Ismail said.
U.N. Secretary-General Annan said after the talks that Sudan had agreed in principle to accept a “hybrid” force in Darfur, with troops drawn predominantly from African countries and the United Nations providing command and control structures.
But Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Nov. 27 any talk of a joint AU-U.N. force was a lie. Ismail said Annan
