GUARDIAN'S JONATHAN STEELE/SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR HASSAN AL-BASHIR INTERVIEW: Sudan would allow doubling of Darfur force

Click here to visit Guardian Unlimited 25 Oct 2006 and read Full transcript of Jonathan Steele's interview with the Sudanese president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Related reports [more to be added here later]

Oct 25 2006 Sudan Tribune has published a reprint of Jonathan Steele's report, under a different title: Sudan's president is willing to accept more AU forces.

Oct 25 2006 Reuters via IOL - Sudan open to peacekeepers under AU's control:

Sudan would be open to more peacekeepers with a beefed up mandate to police Darfur as long as the force remains under African Union (AU) control, Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir told a British newspaper.

Bashir, who has resisted international pressure to allow UN peacekeepers to take over from the AU mission, told the Guardian in an interview that he would allow the European Union or the United Nations to provide logistical support.

Asked if the AU could double its troop strength to 20 000, Bashir said: "We have no objection to the AU increasing its troops, strengthening its mandate, or receiving logistical support from the EU, the UN or the Arab League for that matter, but this must of course be done in consultation with the government of national unity."