Sudan Calls for U.N. 'Exit Strategy' From Darfur

Sudan said Friday it has asked the U.N.-African Union Mission in Darfur to prepare an "exit strategy" from the region, amid strained ties over investigations into an alleged mass rape.

A local news website reported Sudanese soldiers raped 200 women and young girls in the village of Tabit on October 31 after one of their men went missing, which Khartoum has repeatedly denied.

Government forces initially denied UNAMID monitors access to the area.

But a team of peacekeepers entered Tabit on November 9 and said they found no evidence to support the claim. Sudan has since turned down requests from UNAMID to return.

"Sudan has officially asked the United Nations and UNAMID, before the mass rape claims in Tabit, to put in place a gradual exit strategy for the UNAMID mission," said Abdullah al-Azraq, under-secretary for the foreign minister.

He stressed it would be a "gradual process leading to the exit of UNAMID from Sudan," and would not start immediately.

When peacekeepers entered Tabit they said they found no evidence of rapes.

But an internal report from the mission seen by AFP said Sudanese troops tried to intimidate villagers during that visit, while the heavy presence of military and police in Tabit had made a conclusive investigation difficult.

UNAMID spokesman Ashraf Eissa confirmed the mission had "received a note verbal from the government of Sudan referring to the need for an exit strategy of UNAMID".

But he added "consideration of an exit strategy is already contained in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2173".

The resolution, passed in August, suggested the U.N.-AU mission consider forming advance plans for its eventual departure from Darfur.

Ethnic insurgents rebelled against the Khartoum government in 2003, sparking a conflict that the U.N. says has killed 300,000 and displaced two million.

The insurgents complained Khartoum's Arab-dominated government had marginalized the mostly African ethnic groups living in Darfur.