The Sudanese government has accepted the U.N. package for Darfur, including the deployment of what is called a "hybrid" peacekeeping operation of U.N. and African Union troops, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday. Spokesman Sadeq Al-Magli said the number of troops in the hybrid force "would be decided by the commander and his committee, and we have to state clearly that the entire command would be from the African Union." Al-Magli said a Darfur peacekeeping mission would be "a hybrid operation and not international or joint forces." He said Friday that the peacekeeping troops would come mainly from African Union countries, but the U.N. would provide technical assistance, consultants and military and police experts, according to a report of the Associated Press. Earlier Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he believed the Sudan government had also agreed to make renewed efforts to enforce a cease-fire and negotiate peace with those Darfur rebels who rejected the peace agreement of May. Annan said he had heard that President Omar al-Bashir would approve "a full cease-fire, a renewed effort to bring all parties into (the) political process, and deployment of the proposed African Union-United Nations hybrid force." Al-Magli said his government had not yet seen Annan's statement, but it was true that "Sudan has confirmed to the [U.N.] envoy that it would sit down for peace talks with the rebel factions any time, any where."
