Sudan to allow peacekeepers
Sudan agreed to allow more than 3,000 armed U.N. and African peacekeepers into Darfur.
The troops are being sent in to reinforce a beleaguered African Union force of 7,000 that has struggled to prevent the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians during the past four years. But U.N. officials said it could be more than six months before foreign troops land in the region.
Still, the agreement marked a critical new phase in a plan to gradually expand the United Nations’ presence and power in Darfur, where government-backed militia stand accused of killing 200,000 to 400,000 civilians and driving more than 2.5 million from their homes. The United Nations ultimately hopes to oversee a joint force with the African Union with more than 20,000 troops, police and civil servants.
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