A peacekeeping force in Darfur has become a security burden and should leave, Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir said on Sunday, escalating a row that has already led to the closure of a joint United Nations-African Union office in Khartoum.
The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 when mainly African tribes took up arms against the Arab-led government in Khartoum.
The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid) has been deployed in Darfur since 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in a war that has seen the International Criminal Court issue a warrant for Al Bashir’s arrest on charges of war crimes and genocide.
Sudan said last week it had shut Unamid’s human rights office in Khartoum, amid tension over allegations of mass rape by Sudanese troops in a remote Darfur village.
Agencies
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