The No. 2 U.S. diplomat told Sudanese officials on Friday that the humanitarian situation in the Darfur region was so grave that a United Nations 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 the latest international push to persuade President Omar al-Bashir to accept U.N. peacekeepers for Darfur, according to AP. The United States is holding off on imposing sanctions against Sudan to allow time for negotiations with al-Bashir's government on approving a U.N. force to join the undermanned 7,000 African Union troops currently protecting Darfur civilians. Under a U.N.-backed agreement last fall, a hybrid force of 22,000 U.N. and African Union peacekeepers was to be deployed in Darfur to protect and provide relief for 2.5 million forced from their homes and confined to camps. But al-Bashir has since rejected the deployment of U.N. troops, saying they would violate Sudan's sovereignty. -- SPA
