Alain Le Roy, Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said the UN welcomed the Qatari initiative because it backed efforts of the mediator of the UN and African Union (AU), Djibril Bassole.
Le Roy, speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Sudanese president’s aide in charge of Darfur file Nafei Ali Nafei, said they have discussed the UN missions in Sudan and the joint UN-AU mission in Darfur.
"We have discussed the progress of implementation of the comprehensive agreement and the upcoming elections in 2009, in addition to the deployment of the hybrid force in Darfur," said the official.
Le Roy said he just came from Darfur and got acquainted with the developments in the ground.
The UN is deploying 10,000 forces since 2005 to monitor the implementation of the agreement between the North and South, while another 9,000 others were deployed in Darfur.
