US slams Sudanese letter warning against sending troops to Darfur

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2006

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The United States has called an emergency meeting of the Security Council to protest a Sudanese letter warning African and Arab countries against contributing to a proposed UN peacekeeping force for war-torn Darfur. "In the absence of Sudan's consent to the deployment of UN troops, any volunteering to provide peacekeeping troops to Darfur will be considered as a hostile act, a prelude to an invasion of a member country of the UN," said the letter sent Tuesday by the Sudan's UN mission to all African and Arab missions here.

"This is unprecedented," US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said. "This is a direct challenge to the authority of the Security Council ... and requires a strong response." The 15-member council met behind closed doors to discuss the...