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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Friday again rejected the deployment of a UN human rights mission to its strife-torn province of Darfur.
Addressing journalists in Cannes, where he was attending the 24th France-Africa summit, al-Bashir said, "There are some members of this delegation who, in our view, are not impartial. Therefore, it is difficult to say if they will be honest and will reflect the reality there."
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that Sudanese authorities had failed to keep their promise to allow a UN investigative team to look into human rights abuses in Darfur.
The six-member team, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, was in Addis Ababa Wednesday but was unable to go on to Khartoum because they had been denied entrance visas.
Al-Bashir said Friday that peacekeeping in Darfur was not the mandate of the United Nations, but of the African Union (AU).
"According to the Abuja agreement, it is clear that ... the role of the United Nations is logistic, financial and technical support so that the African Union can carry out its work."
Some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced since 2003 in the civil war being waged in Darfur. The United Nations wants to deploy a force of 2,300 in Darfur, with a view of an eventual joint UN-AU force of some 20,000.
On Thursday, in his opening address to the France-Africa summit, French President Jacques Chirac had urged al-Bashir to allow the deployment of a UN force.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Friday again rejected the deployment of a UN human rights mission to its strife-torn province of Darfur.
Addressing journalists in Cannes, where he was attending the 24th France-Africa summit, al-Bashir said, "There are some members of this delegation who, in our view, are not impartial. Therefore, it is difficult to say if they will be honest and will reflect the reality there."
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that Sudanese authorities had failed to keep their promise to allow a UN investigative team to look into human rights abuses in Darfur.
The six-member team, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, was in Addis Ababa Wednesday but was unable to go on to Khartoum because they had been denied entrance visas.
Al-Bashir said Friday that peacekeeping in Darfur was not the mandate of the United Nations, but of the African Union (AU).
"According to the Abuja agreement, it is clear that ... the role of the United Nations is logistic, financial and technical support so that the African Union can carry out its work."
Some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced since 2003 in the civil war being waged in Darfur. The United Nations wants to deploy a force of 2,300 in Darfur, with a view of an eventual joint UN-AU force of some 20,000.
On Thursday, in his opening address to the France-Africa summit, French President Jacques Chirac had urged al-Bashir to allow the deployment of a UN force.
