Sudan gov't minister says 'a million soldiers' could not pacify region

Dec 14 2006 AFP report (via CFD) excerpt:

"Even if you sent a million soldiers to Darfur, that would not solve the problem," Sudan's minister for international cooperation, Al Tigani Salih Fedail, told journalists Thursday.

"That's not the issue. You only have to look at the examples of Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.

"The problem is political. We have to totally respect the agreement and stop those who seek to sabotage it," the minister said.

"Without the implementation of the (peace) agreement, it is very difficult to disarm people," he said.

The minister was in Geneva for the launch of the UN Work Plan for Sudan for 2007, which is targeting 1.8 billion dollars (1.4 billion euros) to fund humanitarian, recovery and development projects in the country.

This represents nearly half of the total 3.7 billion dollars requested by the Secretary General for humanitarian assistance worldwide in 2007, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.