WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- President Bush Wednesday called for a NATO security force to be deployed in Sudan.
Bush said he would like to see NATO peacekeeping troops join the existing 7,500-strong African Union force to provide logistical and command support and to serve as a symbol of the West's commitment to ending the ethnic cleansing that has raged in the Darfur region.
"This is serious business... We're just not playing... a diplomatic holding game," he said. "But that when we say genocide, we mean that the genocide needs to be stopped."
Bush met with Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo on Wednesday to discuss regional security and the Darfur crisis. He said his discussions with Obasanjo reached an understanding that peacekeeping troops are only the first step in bringing a settlement to the region.
"We talked about the need for a parallel track, a peace process to go forward, that there needs to be unity amongst the rebel groups," Bush said. "(Obasanjo) told me he has met with the rebel groups, trying to come up with a focused message that can then be used to negotiate with the government of Sudan."
