Sudan Agrees with UN as French Troops Arrive in Chad

After initially rejecting a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding it disarm Arab militias responsible for atrocities in the western Darfur region, the Sudanese government backtracked on its previous decision as France deployed troops and aid along Chad's border with Sudan to help hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled the violence.

Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said the resolution passed on Friday did not go beyond commitments Khartoum made in early July to UN chief Kofi Annan to rein in the government-supported militias. "If we look closely at this matter, we will find out that there is no reason to reject the resolution as it doesn't contain anything new, anything other than what already has been signed on in the agreement with the United Nations," Ismail told reporters.

Sudan seen to have failed in pledge

The resolution gives the Sudanese government 30 days to act against the Janjaweed Arab militias, after international officials decreed that Sudan had failed to honor its pledges to crack down on the Janjaweed who have brutally attacked black African farmers in Darfur.

The conflict has been raging since last year when black Sudanese rebels attacked government property, accusing the government of neglecting Darfur in favor of the Arab population in Sudan. The government responded by setting up the Janjaweed to put down the rebellion. Human rights groups estimate 15,000 to 30,000 civilians have been killed and more than 1.2 million people have been left homeless.

Meanwhile, about 200 French troops already stationed in Chad prepared to be sent to the border with Sudan to help the relief effort in Darfur as a planeload of U.N. aid was dispatched to the eastern region of the Sudan's neighbor.

Estimates show that as many as 50,000 people have been killed and more than a million displaced after raids by the Janjaweed, which has been blamed for mass rapes, killings and burning of villages in the Darfur region.

Aid agencies fear consequences of UN inaction

An anonymous representative from one of the major aid agencies in Darfur told BBC Online that many organizations in the region believe the resolution has been fatally weakened by the changes which saw the removal of the threat of sanctions. "The Security Council have today proved unanimous in their inaction," the source said.

"The only thing the UN Security Council has delivered is... another 30 days in which civilians will continue to live in fear of being killed or raped. The government of Sudan will be celebrating yet another failure to call them to account."