Japanese FM urges Sudan to accept UN forces for Darfur

Kyodo report excerpt (Nov 6 2006 via ST):

Japan urged Sudan on Monday to accept the deployment of a U.N. mission to Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso made his call in a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Lam Akol Ajawin, who is currently visiting Japan.

Aso was quoted as saying Japan finds it desirable for peacekeeping operations in Darfur to be taken over by the United Nations as the African Union Mission in Sudan, commonly referred to as AMIS, may not be adequate for the job.

The Sudanese foreign minister said in response that his country is by no means hostile to the United Nations but that it wants to resolve the issue on its own as any deployment will infringe on its sovereignty, the official said.

The foreign minister added that Sudan intends to resolve the issue by expanding AMIS, in an implicit refusal of Japan's call for Sudan to accept the U.N. peacekeeping mission.