UN reauthorizes Darfur peacekeeping

The UN Security Council is committing to another year of peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region despite sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president.

The UN Security Council is committing to another year of peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region despite sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president. The United States, though it supports the struggling peacekeeping mission, abstained from the council's 14-0 vote on Thursday night. It objected to the council noting in its reauthorization that the African Union and some council members want the council to freeze the International Criminal Court's prosecution of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

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US spokesman Richard Grenell says the language in the resolution "sends the wrong signal to a man who presided over genocide."

The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force took over duties in Darfur in January.