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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday that he will visit Sudan, Chad and Libya next week to promote a political solution to the conflict in Darfur and test the Sudanese government's commitment to speedy deployment of a 26,000-strong force in the region.
Ban told a news conference that on his first visit to the region since taking the reins of the United Nations in January he would push the peace process, seek to get a hybrid African Union-U.N. force on the ground quickly and press for delivery of humanitarian aid.
The secretary-general said he chose this time to make the week-long trip because of the "historic opportunity" provided by the U.N. Secuity Council's adoption of a resolution on July 31 authorizing the hybrid force to replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force in Darfur by year's end. The resolution was adopted after months of delay in getting agreement from the Sudanese government.
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