Hope for Darfur

Sudanese President Accepts Joint UN-AU Deployment

According to UN estimates, 2.5 million have been displaced by the violence in Darfur. Nothing fun about that. Don't trot that stat out at your New Year Eve parties.

Well, thankfully, there is a bit of hope for the people of that downtrodden region.

From AFP:

The UN Security Council gave a guarded welcome to Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir's readiness to accept the deployment of a joint African Union-UN force in strife-torn Darfur.

The 15-member council met behind closed doors for nearly three hours to hear a briefing from departing United Nations chief Kofi Annan's envoy Ahmadou Ould Abdallah, who visited Khartoum last week, and to discuss a Beshir letter accepting the deployment.

Annan, who attended the meeting, said council members "are encouraged by the positive tone" of Beshir's letter.

Council members later adopted a statement welcoming Beshir's endorsement of the UN three-phase peace plan, including the deployment of a joint force, and underlining "their willingness to continue their close cooperation with the African Union and to continue to give priority to this issue."

(more)

By the way something, someone slip John Bolton a memo to the effect of, "Hey look, the U.N. is good for something."

The BBC talks to George Clooney about Darfur.

TAGS: Darfur, George Clooney, Celebrities, Genocide