20101025
reuters

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers monitoring a fragile 2005 peace deal between north and south Sudan could not stop new hostilities between the northern and southern armies, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Monday.

Alain Le Roy, under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, was discussing some of the possibilities for boosting security ahead of a planned referendum on southern independence early next year.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has said there is a possibility of temporarily increasing the 10,000-strong blue-helmet force in Sudan, known as UNMIS, so it could better monitor hot spots on the north-south border.

Le Roy suggested that an increase would not help.

"An increase in the number of troops would not enable UNMIS to prevent, or even to contain, a clash between the two armies," Le Roy told the 15-nation Security Council.

"Our best available tool against a return to war remains our commitment in favor of a political agreement ... of the parties on the key pending issues," he said.

Privately, U.N. officials have ruled out the option of boosting the number of UNMIS troops, saying it was not clear the Security Council could reach agreement and there was too little time ahead of the planned January 9 votes.

Le Roy said preparations for the referendum on independence of the oil-producing south, and a separate plebiscite on whether the oil-rich central region of Abyei should join the south or remain with the north, were severely behind schedule.