UN Renews Call for Peacekeepers in Sudan

(1 Aug 08 - RV) The foreign minister of Burkino Faso, Djibril Bassole, assumed his post as Darfur's new chief mediator for the peace processes in Sudan today.

The U.N. Security Council renewed the mandate for peacekeepers in Darfur yesterday evening in a resolution that Washington criticized for raising concerns about moves to indict Sudan's president for genocide.
Security in Darfur, an area roughly the size of France where oil was discovered in 2005, has been deteriorating, making work ever harder for the world's biggest aid operation.
The resolution expresses the council's deep concern at the insecurity and the killing of aid workers.

It also demands an end to all attacks on civilians and calls on member states to provide the helicopters and everything else the joint UN African Union peace force needs.

Thomas Cargill is Africa Programme Manager at the UK based research Institute Chatham House.

He says lack of equipment means lack of security.