Worsening humanitarian situation in Sudan, Chad demands immediate action, UN Security Council told today

UN News Centre report 29 June 2006 says any UN peacekeeping mission that takes over from the AU in Darfur will need to work in "partnership" with the country's people and Government, the head of the recent Security Council mission there said today. Excerpt:

British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, addressing the 15-member body on the mission's report of its trip, also reiterated the importance of viewing the situation in Sudan in terms of the wider region, in particular the situation in neighbouring Chad where the delegation also visited.

"We came away I think all again reconfirmed in our view that, as the African Union has itself decided, it is right that the UN should take over the peacekeeping operation in Darfur, that's the short-term objective," he said.

"I would only end by stressing this: the wish that we all kept repeating and which is fundamental to policy, in wanting to see a partnership with the Government and the people of Sudan. It's a partnership, we can't do this without the consent of the Government, that is obvious.

"Our wish is to see an improvement in all aspects of the situation in Sudan and that the United Nations should play its part working with that Government and its people," the Ambassador concluded.