Dispute on who is boss delays new Darfur force

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, June 1 (Reuters) - A dispute over who is to command the proposed 23,000-strong international peacekeeping force for Darfur is holding up any deployment in the violence-torn Sudanese region, U.N. officials said on Friday.

Despite pressure for Sudan to accept the United Nations-African Union "hybrid" operation, a key African Union body, the Peace and Security Committee, has not approved the 40 pages of plans sent to it by the United Nations.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon played down the differences but some Security Council diplomats and U.N. officials said they were serious but solvable.

"It was unfortunate that the African Union has come back with some changes after the Security Council has adopted and issued a presidential statement," Ban told reporters. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>