Diplomats who have seen the letter, distributed to members of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, said that while Bashir's message contained positive elements, it was not clear whether it represented a real step forward in putting the plan into effect.

While change for the worse is often dramatic, change for the better is generally incremental.

encourage me to think we may tomorrow receive a green light from President Bashir for a full ceasefire, a renewed effort to bring all parties into the political process, and deployment of the proposed hybrid African Union-United Nations force to protect the population.

But, we will need to see the document that Mr. Ould-Abdallah will bring.

[t]he Sudanese government has agreed to a U.N. peacekeeping role in the troubled Darfur region, but in a mission with mostly African Union troops and an African commander, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

Sadeq al-Magli didn't specify how many troops would be accepted but said the U.N. would mainly provide technical assistance, consultants and military and police experts. He added that the force would be commanded by the African Union.

We would get a genocide. We would get a Rwanda. We could get a terrible situation if the four million people who are in need of humanitarian assistance in Darfur (are) joined by a million people in Chad and another million in northern Central African Republic. That's six million people in a totally hopeless situation.

At the moment I think it's more than sad to see that grown men with jackets and ties like me sit and quarrel of what is a 'hybrid force' . . . while women and children are dying. . . . I'm happy to note that in nine months we might have this force, but what about the next nine days where it could collapse completely?

BBC: Another big challenge for you: the situation in Darfur. Many say that Darfur has proven that the United Nations cannot stop genocide.

Kofi Annan: Who and what is the United Nations? The United Nations are the member states.

BBC: The Security Council.

Kofi Annan: Your government and mine.

BBC: It's been going on for three years, more than 200,000 people have died, two to three million have been displaced.

Kofi Annan: I'm not disputing the gravity of the situation. We've been pushing very hard to get peacekeepers in.

BBC: One of the big successes of UN reform was this Responsibility to Protect. But you're not protecting - it's been three years.

Kofi Annan: I myself have made that point, that member states made a solemn pledge to protect. Sudan has made it quite clear to the whole world that it will not accept UN peacekeepers. The resolution says we should deploy the troops with the cooperation and consent of the Sudanese. If the Sudanese do not give their consent, no government, not yours or mine, is going to give troops for a peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

BBC: So, people said after Rwanda, after Srebrenica, "never again". But it's happening again.

Kofi Annan: It is deeply, deeply disappointing and it's tragic but we do not have the resources or the will to confront the situation - as in, If you did it, would you make the situation worse, or would it be better? I mean, I have gone out and indicated to the Sudanese that if they cannot protect their people, and they are refusing to let the international community come in and assist, they will be held individually and collectively responsible for what is happening and what happens.

BBC: We're told that you're going to make this one of your priorities to the day that you leave, on 31 December.

Kofi Annan: You mean Darfur? I've told you, it's very tragic and painful, not only [to me] as secretary general but as a human being and as an African, and I hope all of us feel that way. I'm going to work on it - Darfur and one or two other issues which I'm working on - up until the last day.

A new atmosphere is vitally needed. . . . It is not too late to make this new beginning worthy of the hopes that humanity has placed in it. Some critics have rushed to a premature judgement. Now is the time, for those members from all regions of the world who are truly dedicated to a strong and effective Council, to prove them wrong.

[T]he Government of the Sudan and militias aligned with them, and some still actively supported by them, continue to be responsible for the most serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The crisis in Darfur has also spilled over into Chad and the Central African Republic. Attacks similar to those carried out by armed groups in Darfur have resulted in the death of scores of civilians, and massive displacement in eastern Chad.

Attacks on villages, killing of civilians, rape and the forced displacement of tens of thousands of civilians go on unabated, and have now reached in Darfur the horrific levels of early 2004. Violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law are also being committed by rebel groups. On 22 November the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Jan Egeland, reported that 4 million people are now in need of emergency assistance. The number of internally displaced persons has risen to an unprecedented 2 million. The situation, he stressed, is worse than in 2004. The ongoing atrocities must stop.

You have other priorities, I know, and so do we all. But our indifference has already allowed Halima to be gang-raped twice and her sister murdered in the first genocide of the 21st century. So, Marguerite, look Halima in the eye, and decide if you’re willing to turn away as she is slaughtered, or how many more times you’re willing to allow her to be raped.

…to address both the administration's counterterrorism and human rights goals will require overcoming policy inertia and ignorance about the nature of the Khartoum regime -- two requirements perhaps beyond the reach of Bush's current team.

The incurious reporting that has reduced the war to a simple morality tale, an African "Lord of the Rings," equates Janjaweed with Arab, and especially Abbala. But only a minority of Darfur's 300,000 or so Abbala have joined the 20,000 to 30,000 Janjaweed. Most have refused to contribute soldiers, well aware that good relations with their non-Arab neighbors are more important than an alliance with an uncaring government hundreds of miles away.

This is a new plan that can be largely accepted by Sudan and takes 1706 to the graveyard," he said, referring to the number of Security Council resolution that the authorized the UN force. "1706 is dead." This would be a "very special type of operation" with the UN "paying for the AU to do the job.

This agreement paves the way for a joint AU/UN peacekeeping force for Darfur composed primarily of and led by Africans, and commanded, supported and funded by the UN.