U.N.: Peacekeepers will stay in Darfur

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (UPI) -- U.N. peacekeepers will remain in Darfur even if the Sudanese president is indicted on war crimes charges, the U.N. chief of peacekeeping said Monday.

"The government would assume its full duty of protecting U.N. missions in Sudan against any negative impact that may result from (International Criminal Court's) possible decision against the Sudanese political leadership," Alan LeRoy, under secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, said during a press briefing.

The ICC is expected to announce its decision Wednesday on whether to issue an arrest warrant Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accused of orchestrating a vicious campaign that left more than 300,000 civilians dead and drove more than 2.7 million people from their homes.

LeRoy stressed he didn't know of the tribunal's decision.

"We are not informed of their final decision. Anyone can guess," Le Roy said in a news release.

While saying there were no plans to scale back the two U.N. peacekeeping missions in Sudan, LeRoy said "we are making some plans as any country would have contingency planning to try to react to any situation."