UN's Ban urges Sudan to keep peacekeepers in hotspots

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Sudan to allow peacekeepers to stay in the strife-torn Southern Kordofan region and other areas, a day ahead of the end of their mandate.

"I have urged the Government of Sudan for technical and practical reasons for an extension of the mandate of the United Nations in Sudan, at least until the situation (in Southern Kordofan) calms down. We can not afford to have any gaps," Ban told journalists at Sudan's foreign ministry in Khartoum. (Reuters)