UN Okays Darfur Force, Sudan Refuses

The resolution allows the troops to "use all necessary means" to protect UN personnel and facilities.

"It is important that we move immediately to implement it fully," US Ambassador John Bolton told the council, reported Reuters.

"We cannot afford to delay."

Twelve of the council's 15 members voted in favor of resolution 1706, while China, Russia and Qatar abstained.

The resolution said the Darfur mission would be carried by expanding the mandate of the 12,273-strong United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), currently operating in the vast African country.

It calls for raising UNMIS strength to up to 17,300 troops to take over from the ill-equipped and under-funded African Union (AU) mission.

The document also urges the deployment of 3,300 civilian police to monitor the implementation of the Darfur peace deal.

The Khartoum government and the main rebel group, Sudan Liberation Army, signed a peace deal on May 5 to end a three-year conflict that has claimed up to 300,000 lives and displaced some 2.4 million others, according to UN estimates.

Acting under Chapter Seven of the UN charter, the new resolution allows the troops to "use all necessary means" within its capabilities to protect UN personnel and facilities and prevent attacks and threats against civilians."

The resolution, however, links the deployment of UN troops to the consent of the Khartoum government.

Opposition

Sudanese have threatened to defend their country against the "invading" UN troops.

China, Russia and Qatar reaffirmed support for the UN mission but objected to the timing of the resolution and the fact that it was voted on despite the opposition of the Sudanese government.

"It may trigger further misunderstandings and confrontation" China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya told the session.

The resolution may "even cause problems on implementing the comprehensive peace agreement process," he warned.

The Sudanese government immediately reaffirmed its opposition to the resolution.

"We refuse this resolution," Sudanese presidential advisor Magjoub Khalifa told Al-Jazeera news channel immediately after the voting.

Mahdy Ibrahim of the ruling Sudanese National Congress echoed the same position.

"The Security Council should have consulted with the government before the resolution for better terms," he told the Doha-based broadcaster after the vote.

"Where do they plan these troops when the Sudanese government, armed forces and people oppose such a force," he wondered.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir has voiced strong opposition to the deployment of UN troops in Darfur, calling this a Western invasion.

"Everybody knows the Americans and British are scheming against the Sudan," he told a rally before the vote.

Sudan saw over the past days massive demonstrations to show support for the government position and against the deployment of the UN force.

"We will not bow to the United States," thousands of demonstrators chanted while marching to the UN offices in Khartoum on Wednesday, August 30.

"Darfur is part of Sudan ... it is Sudanese and we are capable of defending it," head of the workers federation, Ibrahim Ghandur, told the angry crow.

Sudanese have already formed two resistance front and vowed to defend their homeland against the "invading" UN troops.