London - The international peacekeeping force planned for Sudan's Darfur region must have the firepower to police a peace agreement, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday.
Blair told members of parliament that Britain and the United States as well as their partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) were studying the issue "urgently".
"In the end, the problem in these situations is not just humanitarian, it is that unless the opposing sides can be kept apart - and that requires military force - it is very difficult for the humanitarian aid to be effective," he said.
The Sudanese government must end its opposition to United Nations (UN) peacekeepers taking over from the existing African Union force in Darfur, Blair said.
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The situation in Sudan is very, very serious indeed A new UN force to be deployed to the area must have "sufficient firepower that we are able to make sure that any agreement is properly policed.
"We are looking at this now urgently with, particularly the United States of America, but other Nato partners, to see what more we can do," Blair said.
"The situation in Sudan is very, very serious indeed, with thousands of people dying needlessly, and this is a classic example of... why a standing peacekeeping force for Africa is so important.
"We will continue to work on this very, very hard indeed."
A peace deal aimed at ending three years of bloodshed in Darfur was signed on Friday in Abuja, Nigeria, by the Sudanese government and the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, led by Minna Minnawi.
'... a standing peacekeeping force for Africa is so important' But an SLM faction and the Justice and Equality Movement still have reservations on the agreement, which was inked after Washington and London dispatched top officials to African Union-sponsored talks.
The United States is pressing the UN Security council to quickly pass a resolution that would call on Sudan to allow a UN assessment team to travel to Darfur to pave the way for deploying a UN force.
As an interim measure, it would expand the mandate of the 10 100 members of the UN mission currently deployed in southern Sudan to authorise support for the Abuja deal, including providing logistical support" to the 7 000 cash-strapped African Union troops in Darfur.
The conflict in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes rose up against the central government in Khartoum, prompting a fierce crackdown by troops and a proxy militia called the Janjaweed.
The combined effect of war and famine has left up to 300 000 people dead and displaced more than two million people. - Sapa-AFP
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