Sudan Death

With neighboring Chad involved in a undeclared war, African Union and United Nation peacekeepers difficulties to deploy troops, things in the Sudan are increasingly becoming more unstable to the point that President Bush has said, “I have been frustrated, frankly, with the pace of the United Nations and the AU to get troops in there.”

According to Fox News

With international attention increasingly focused on other world trouble spots, the United States is boosting its profile on Sudan with the appointment of a new special envoy for the country, a former senior diplomat with links to President Bush, the GOP and a firm grasp of the U.N. system.

The envoy, Richard "Rich" Williamson, was sworn in by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday, after his predecessor, Andrew Natsios, resigned last month. Natsios, a former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, was said to have been frustrated by internal bureaucratic battles over the direction of Sudan policy.

Also, according to a Sudan news source,

a joint African-United Nations force took over peacekeeping duties in Darfur on Monday and existing AU forces switched their green berets to the UN blue ones. The transfer of authority has been largely symbolic.

Sudan not signed off on the Status of Force (SAF) agreement that governs the work of the new force. It has refused to allow night flights — except for medical evacuation — or large U.N. cargo planes.

Additionally, the government has attempted to require the force to give it advance notice of all movements and to ensure that its military can scramble U.N. radio communications when it is conducting operations.

Sudan has also refused to allow non-African units in Darfur including Swedish, Thai and Nepalese troops.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed.