Security Council delegation to meet al-Bashir

A Security Council delegation is scheduled to meet with Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir on Tuesday to discuss the role of the United Nations in resolving the conflict in the volatile western Sudanese region of Darfur. "The Security Council delegation is now meeting Lam Akol [the Sudanese foreign minister] and will meet with Bashir later today," said Radhia Achouri, spokeswoman of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), on Tuesday. The Council members, who arrived in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Monday, met Jan Pronk, special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and other UN officials Tuesday morning, she added. The meeting would be followed by one with Deng Alor, the Sudanese minister of cabinet affairs. The delegation, led by Jones Parry of the United Kingdom, is expected to stress the importance of a full and rapid implementation of the 5 May Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). The delegation will also seek the support of the Sudanese government to allow a UN force to take over the peacekeeping mission from 7,000 underfunded African Union (AU) troops. Sudan recently agreed to allow a UN military planning team to go to Darfur, but it has stopped short of giving its consent to a UN force. Jean-Marie Guéhenno, under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, was appointed to lead the planning team on Monday. The team is expected to arrive in Sudan later this week on a joint mission with the AU. It is expected to hold wide-ranging discussions with Sudanese authorities aimed at strengthening the AU monitoring force in Darfur and preparing for the possible transition to a UN peacekeeping operation.