The No. 2 U.S. diplomat told Sudanese officials on Friday that the humanitarian situation in the country's violence-wracked Darfur region was so grave that a U.N. peacekeeping force was urgently needed. The visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who arrived in Khartoum late Thursday, is part of an international push to persuade President Omar al-Bashir to accept U.N. peacekeepers for Darfur. It comes as the United States is holding off on imposing sanctions against Sudan to allow time for negotiations with al-Bashir's government on allowing a U.N. force to join the undermanned 7,000 African Union troops currently protecting Darfur civilians, according to AP.
