 The Security Council has approved a first step in sending UN peacekeepers to Sudan's Darfur region. On Friday the council authorised UN officials to draw up a range of options for the operation. The 15 council members said in a statement they looked forward to a decision by the African Union, which has 7000 monitors and soldiers in Darfur, to transfer its operation to the United Nations. The council asked Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, to "initiate contingency planning without delay" and produce a range of options in consultation with the AU.
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John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN and current council president, said: "The purpose of today's statement was to kick off contingency planning. And my instructions, and my intentions are very clear, which (are) to move as far and as fast as we can during the month of February." |