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 KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudan's president on Monday declined to meet a senior U.S. diplomat visiting the country to press him to approve the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur.
The apparent snub came as the U.N. Security Council began discussions on a draft resolution that calls for the transferring of peacekeeping from the financially strapped African Union troops, whose mandate in the region ends Sept. 30, to a much larger and better equipped U.N. force. The draft resolution is co-authored by the U.S. and Britain.
Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer had been expected to deliver a message from President Bush to Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir. But al-Bashir was unable to meet the diplomat "due to his crowded schedule," the president's office said.
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