The UN Security Council moved swiftly to start what will likely be a months-long process to deploy the first significant UN peacekeeping force in conflict-wracked Darfur following the Sudanese government's long-awaited approval.
After months of delay, Sudan said it would let 3,000 UN peacekeepers into Darfur to reinforce an African Union (AU) force struggling to keep the peace, the most substantial agreement to date.
But the new military personnel may take six months to recruit and deploy, UN officials said. And Sudan has not yet agreed to a larger force of more than 20,000.
Sudan's acceptance on Monday of an interim plan is also expected to put in abeyance US-British plans to introduce sanctions against Khartoum so Sudan has a chance to carry out the pact, diplomats said.
skepticism
Still, the US voiced skepticism, noting that Khartoum had reneged on previous agreements on letting troops into Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million have been uprooted from their homes.
"We've been down this path before," said acting US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff. "So we will see if it happens when it happens."
He said no decision had been made on sanctions.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Monday's agreement "a very positive sign" and said the UN and the AU would move quickly to recruit the peacekeepers, who would man control centers but not join infantry units.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, in charge of UN peacekeeping, told reporters he would meet tomorrow with potential troop contributors, many of whom are hesitant about the future of the force, which would serve under AU command.
three-stage deal
The deal with Sudan has three stages: a light support package with UN police advisers, civilian staff and equipment, which has nearly been deployed.
The second phase is the so-called heavy support package, which Sudan approved on Monday, including six attack helicopters that Khartoum had opposed until the last minute.
And the third stage is a peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police which Sudan has not accepted.
"The heavy support package, as its name indicates, is not the robust force that Darfur needs," Guehenno said. "It's a support package to lay the ground for a future robust force. It's a transition to a hybrid mission. That's how we see it."
Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem informed Ban that the government hopes "that implementation of the heavy support package would proceed expeditiously."
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