The New York Times ran a piece today, Peacekeepers and Diplomats, Seeking to End Darfur's Violence, Hit Roadblock. The highlights:
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 — Sudan has withdrawn its support for a United Nations peacekeeping force to replace African Union troops now in the conflict-ridden Darfur region, and is lobbying other countries to discourage the substitution, Jan Pronk, the United Nations envoy for Sudan, said Tuesday.And:
In another development indicating a snag in the international effort to curb the violence in Darfur, John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador, conceded the failure of the American effort to produce a resolution on a United Nations mission to Sudan by the end of February, a month during which the United States has served as president of the Security Council.With a two-sentence reminder of the situation:
More than 200,000 people have been killed and up to two million villagers driven from their homes in Darfur because of attacks on civilians by government-backed Arab militias on camel and horseback. In a deepening of one of the world's worst refugee crises, the chaos in Darfur has now spilled across the border into Chad.Sigh. As a reminder, NBC's ER is focusing on Darfur tomorrow night. See previous post below.