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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. and African Union chief executives on Wednesday resolved a dispute over command of a proposed joint military force to help end bloodshed in Darfur, but the deal still must be approved by their organizations' security councils and Sudan's government.
Whether the vague language can satisfy potential contributors to the peacekeeping force who want the United Nations to be in command or the desire of the African Union and Sudanese government for the AU to play a major role remains to be seen. It appeared to be deliberately opaque to try to win agreement from the major players.
The proposed 23,000-strong joint force would be the final phase of a three-stage U.N. plan to bolster the beleaguered 7,000-soldier AU force that has been unable to stop Darfur's four-year conflict. Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir agreed to the package in November but stalled acceptance of the first two phases and has backtracked on allowing U.N. troops into Darfur.
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