Asked about the Sudanese President’s reported rejection of UN Peacekeeping forces for Darfur, UN SG BAN KI-MOON told journalists at UNHQ/NY on Thursday that “I just spoke with Mr. Eliasson [Jan Eliasson is the Special Represenative for Darfur, who is now in Sudan] this morning, and he is encouraged by his meetings with President Bashir and other Sudanese leaders…he was assured of very strong cooperation and assistance on the part of the Sudanese Government and President to have a very good cooperation among United Nations, Sudanese Government and the African Union. Therefore, I’m not quite sure about what he said about this so-called – you said ‘rejection’ – of UN forces. Because of the sensitivity of this situation, I’m not in a position to tell you much in detail, but I can assure you that this is again on top of my priority agendas and I’ll discuss myself on this matter with the President of Sudan…We are committed to implementing this agreement which had already been made, and this is what we have been discussing, including the contribution, diplomatic negotiation and contribution, made by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. So the recent talk with Mr. Jan Eliasson with the President [Omar al Bashir] should give us some good prospect in implementing this agreement. And I will follow up this matter…As you may understand, this involves many difficult political dimensions on this matter itself, so I need to discuss this matter with, first of all, the Sudanese Government and the African Union Commission, as well as many leaders of the African Union who are involved in these issues. Therefore, I can tell you at this time that this is on the highest priority which I am pursuing…I am not in a position to disclose all what I have been discussing with African leaders.”Â
SG BAN says he will travel to the African Union summit meeting in Addis Ababa at the end of January to continue these discussions in person.Â
Sudanese and UN officials have said that recent accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan may jeopardize UN deployment in Darfur.  Ban was not asked about this in his press conference on Thursday, but commented nevertheless: “I will also stress the UN policy on sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping personnel and others: zero tolerance means zero complacency and zero impunity. In the coming months, I will work with Member States to forge an ever stronger partnership to ensure that accountability is brought to bear — among the perpetrators, and among their commanders and superiors.”