Sudanese civil society groups called on the United Nations today to re-allocate any money earmarked for peacekeepers in the war-torn Darfur region toward humanitarian aid and development instead.
International human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have declared today a global Day for Darfur and organisers said protests and rallies were planned in major cities worldwide.
Organisers have also called on supporters to wear blue hats in a show of support for the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Darfur.
In a protest march in Khartoum backing the deployment of an international force for western Sudan, dozens of Sudanese pro-government activists marched to UN offices in Khartoum to oppose new peacekeepers.
In a written statement to the United Nations, they rejected rising pressure on Sudan to accept the deployment of more than 20,000 UN peacekeepers to Darfur, where political and ethnic violence has killed tens of thousands of people since 2003 and has worsened in recent months.
"It is more productive for international organisations propagating the continuation of war and conflict to adopt peace building and support humanitarian activity in Darfur," the statement by the Sudan Council of Voluntary Agencies said.
The statement said deploying an international force would "only add to the complexity of an already volatile situation", and said funds would be better spent on development, confidence-building measures, and peace-building.
The mandate for a 7,000-strong poorly equipped African Union peace monitoring force expires on September 30th, and Sudan has said it would be allowed to extend its mandate only if it remains under AU control.
Western leaders, some African presidents, and international humanitarian groups say a UN force is the only way to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur, where more than two million people have been displaced by fighting between government troops, rebels and militias.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has repeatedly said he would not accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur.