US, Britain want UN to authorize troops for Darfur

By Matthew Verrinder

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain and the United States on Thursday introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution to send some 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers to the Darfur region of Sudan, despite opposition from the Khartoum government.

The resolution can be adopted without any consent from Sudan, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Jackie Sanders said. But in practice troops cannot be deployed until Khartoum agrees.

"I hope that when we negotiate this text, there will be clarity from the government of Sudan that such an operation, favored by the African Union and favored by the Security Council should take place," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters. Read more >>>