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Sudan’s Taha vows resistance to UN peacekeepers

Sept 1, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha vowed the regime would maintain its opposition to a UN peacekeeping force for Darfur and hailed Hezbollah as a model of resistance, official media said Friday.

ali_osman.jpg“We have options and plans for confronting the international intervention,” state news agency SUNA quoted Taha as telling a rally in the North Kordofan State capital of El-Obeid late Thursday.

He cited the toll Shiite militant group Hezbollah had “exacted in the ranks of the army of the Zionist enemy” in this summer’s devastating conflict in Lebanon “due to the determination, patience and political will the party enjoys”.

“We are prepared for all possibilities,” the vice president said, adding that “the battle with the international community requires patience and strict precautions.”

He called for “an effective working programme and strenuous action” to oppose the UN force approved by the Security Council Thursday.

Taha was the third government official to speak out against the Security Council’s decision to take over the longstanding African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur if Khartoum approved.

North Darfur governor Osman Yusuf Kibir said the Security Council resolution “lacks legitimacy and credibility.”

State television quoted presidential adviser Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed as saying the resolution was “entirely unacceptable” and warning that it could “incite sedition”.

The Security Council overwhelmingly approved the deployment of a 17,300-strong UN force to strife-torn western Sudan, with the United States pressing Khartoum to lift its opposition.

Twelve of the council’s 15 members voted in favour of the resolution, which states that the deployment would take place “on the basis of the acceptance of the (Sudanese) government”, while China, Russia and Qatar abstained.

The text calls for UN peacekeepers to take over from the ill-equipped and underfunded AU mission, which has been unable to prevent killings, rape and the internal displacement of civilians in Darfur.

Deploying a robust UN force is seen as crucial to the success of a fragile Darfur peace agreement signed by the Khartoum government and the main rebel faction in May.

(ST/AFP)

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