Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said on Wednesday that a recent agreement reached with the UN and the African Union (AU) on a UN-AU hybrid peacekeeping operation in Darfur was its "big victory."

Akol stressed in a speech to the Sudanese parliament that "the tripartite agreement on the hybrid operation is a big victory for Sudan."

He said the agreement "put an end to the confrontation between Sudan and some radical forces in the international community."

The Sudanese foreign minister expected the UN Security Council to issue a resolution within one month for the funding of the hybrid operation, which would begin next year.

He ruled out any threat that the United Nations would impose new sanctions on Sudan, adding that the agreement was a fruit of Sudan's stances and its method of dialogue.

Akol said Sudan and the international community were working closely together to implement the hybrid operation agreement.

He said the task of the hybrid operation, according to the agreement, was to help implement the Darfur Peace Agreement which the Sudanese government signed in 2006, especially with regard to the security arrangements.

At a two-day meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa last week, the AU, the UN and Sudan reached an agreement on the deployment of the hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur.

According to the agreement, a 20,000-strong hybrid peacekeeping force will be deployed by the UN and the AU to enhance the current peacekeeping mission of the pan-African body in the western Sudanese region.

Source: Xinhua