SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AFP - China, Russia, reject calls for freeze on UN pullout from Sudan

14/6/19: AFP - China, Russia, reject calls for freeze on UN pullout from Sudan

 AFP reports that China and Russia on Friday rejected calls from European and African countries to freeze the planned shutdown of a peacekeeping mission to Sudan's Darfur region.

Britain, France, Germany and the African countries on the Security Council told the group that the decision on closing the joint UN-African Union mission should be put on hold while Sudan is engulfed in crisis. The council is scheduled to vote on the mandate of the mission, known as UNAMID, on June 27.

"The Sudanese government has the capacity to maintain peace and security in Darfur on its own," said China's Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao.

China, Sudan's major trading partner, has long supported Khartoum's view that the conflict in Darfur was winding down and that peacekeepers were no longer needed.