Sudan opposes UN plan to deploy peacekeepers to Darfur

One wonders what Eric Reeves et al think when they read news reports such as the one today at Voice of America - excerpt:

Sudanese Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Madhi told reporters on Sunday that a draft UN resolution to deploy 17,000 peacekeeping troops in Darfur would be considered a military occupation.

A political analyst on Sudan, Mariam Jooma, says the potential success of any UN peacekeeping mission depends on the cooperation of the Sudanese parties, especially the government and the rebel factions that refused to sign a peace deal in May.

Also worrying, Jooma says, is that a UN mission may have wider repercussions, due to the situation in the Middle East.

"The politicization of any deployment is so likely to be manipulated by belligerents, as you've seen in Sudan," said Mariam Jooma. "President Bashir is saying, they will not allow another invasion, as they have in Iraq. I think is very worrying because whatever the good will from the United Nations, the actual deployment itself is sure to throw up questions of national authority, as well as on the war on terror."