The Sudanese government agreed in a letter to the United Nations to accept a joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping effort in the country's war-torn Darfur region, according to a copy of the document obtained Tuesday.
In a letter to outgoing Secretary General Kofi Annan obtained by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, Sudan's President Omer Hassan Ahmed Al- Bashir said his country is ready to accept the conclusions of a November conference in Addis Ababa, in which the UN offered to send military advisers and logistical support to the AU mission in Darfur.
Al-Bashir urged the UN Security Council to endorse the plan and authorize financial support for peacekeeping in the region.
The cash-strapped AU mission comprises a force of around 7,000 soldiers patrolling an area the size of France. Critics charge it cannot adequately protect civilians under its mandate.
Sudan last month reportedly agreed to the joint mission, but later sent conflicting signals with some top officials suggesting UN troops would be allowed on the ground, while others said Sudan would only accept UN financial and logistical support.
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