KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - Sudan will not accept UN peacekeeping forces into its troubled Darfur region as it would risk turning the country into a second Iraq, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Friday.
Visiting the Chinese capital for a summit that brings together 48 African leaders, Bashir also thanked China for its support in the face of western pressure over a humanitarian crisis that he United States has labelled genocide.
Sudan has flatly rejected a 22,500-strong UN peacekeeping force for Darfur, aimed at bolstering about 7000 under-funded, African troops on the ground, saying it amounted to colonialism.
"As regards the UN peacekeeping force, we decided that with such an army moving in to our country, the impact is going to be the same as what's been happening in Iraq," Bashir told a news conference.
The comparison was not immediately clear as there are no UN peacekeepers in Iraq and the March 2003 US-led invasion did not have the explicit approval of the UN Security Council.
Bashir said only 10,000 people had died in Darfur compared with around 655,000 in Iraq following the March 2003 US-led invasion -- a figure from a study by US and Iraqi public health teams.
Most international estimates put the death toll from Sudan's vicious civil conflict, which has pitted mostly non-Arab rebels against the Arab-dominated government and Janjaweed militia, at tens of thousands, and say it has displaced over 2 million.
All sides have been accused of grave human rights violations.
Despite mounting international concern over Darfur, China, which has imported over 14 million barrels of oil from Sudan this year alone and has lucrative business interests there, has been a strong and vocal supporter of Khartoum.
President Hu Jintao said on Thursday that Khartoum must first agree before any UN peacekeeping force enters Darfur.
"We do appreciate the support that China has given us in the Security Council...the insistence that the support of Sudan must be sought in any resolution that can be passed," Bashir said.
Beijing touts a foreign policy of non-interference in other nations' affairs, and in addition to its international support, China keeps a tight leash on domestic press coverage of Darfur.
But there is mounting criticism of China's role there -- Amnesty International appealed to the Chinese government ahead of the summit to ensure that its economic profits from Sudan should not be built on killings and displacements.
And Hu appeared during a Thursday meeting to be nudging Bashir towards accommodation.
"The Darfur issue is again at a critical juncture," Chinese State television quoted him saying.
"China totally understands Sudan's concerns on this issue and hopes Sudan will strengthen dialogue with all parties."
Bashir also lashed out at the United States, which is currently trying to take a more conciliatory approach and draw up a plan for Darfur that it hopes other nations will support, particularly Arab countries that hold more sway with Khartoum.
- REUTERS
