Bashir vow: Resist U.N. forces in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 20 (UPI) -- The deployment of international peacekeepers in Sudan's war-torn province of Darfur in line with a U.N. resolution appeared to be further complicated Tuesday.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir vowed to personally lead the resistance in case of an international military intervention in Darfur, west Sudan.

Bashir told legislators from his ruling National Congress Party that "he will not allow any international intervention in Darfur as long as he is in power," Sudanese news agency SUNA reported Tuesday.

It quoted Bashir as saying he "dedicates himself to leading the resistance against the military intervention of the United Nations in Darfur in case it happens."

"Sudan, which was the first African state to win its independence among the nations south of the African Sahara, will not be the first state to be colonized again," Bashir was quoted as saying.

Bashir's remarks coincided with negotiations between U.N. and African Union teams with Sudanese officials in Khartoum about the necessary preparations to implement the Security Council resolution that stipulates replacing African Union forces by international peacekeepers in Darfur.

A Security Council delegation visited Sudan earlier this month and held talks with Bashir and senior officials in an attempt to convince them that the deployment of international peacekeepers is aimed at helping implement the peace agreement in province and not against the Sudanese government.

Several years of strife in Darfur, coupled with alleged ethnic cleansing and the displacement of thousands of people, touched off an international outcry about human rights violations, prompting the U.N. to intervene.