"With armed conflicts raging around the world, prevention is too important to be left in the hands of governments alone, senior United Nations officials told the press in New York today on the eve of a General Assembly debate on Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recent report on the issue.
Khartoum has dug itself deeper into opposition of Security Council Resolution 1706, which calls for a robust United Nations peacekeepers force to replace the African Union force in Darfur. So desperate is Khartoum to prevent the implementation of 1706, they have issued an ultimatum to the African Union: block the United Nations from taking over the mission in Darfur, or face expulsion on September 30th, when their mandate runs out. Meanwhile, a clearly emboldened Khartoum has launched a major military offensive in Darfur, in clear violation of May's Darfur Peace Agreement.
NYT: "Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday that the United Nations would mediate talks on the release of Israeli and Hezbollah prisoners.... Mr. Annan said the talks would be conducted discreetly, with the goal of setting up the "mechanism" to effect the release of prisoners from both sides, which he said he hoped would be the first step in more thorough-going talks involving Israel and Lebanon. He also said he would insist on control of the negotiation and no interference from outside."
"The Sudanese government has dramatically intensified the war in Darfur in a bid to finish off the tenacious, three-year-old rebellion before a U.N. peacekeeping force can deploy there, say analysts, rebels and officials from the African Union monitoring mission.... The U.N. Security Council last week approved a peacekeeping force of up to 22,500 that would take the place of the African Union troops, but Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has sought to block it from being deployed." More
IHT: "Afghanistan's opium harvest this year has reached the highest levels ever recorded, showing an increase of almost 50 percent from last year, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said in Kabul."
"The United Nations strongly condemned the slaying of an international Red Cross driver in Darfur and demanded factions in the war-torn Sudanese region protect humanitarian workers." More
Also: New round of fighting is feared in Darfur - UN votes to send peacekeepers