A divided U.N. Security Council on Friday abruptly canceled a trip to the African Union in Ethiopia to discuss a future force in Darfur after failing to agree on what they could talk about, diplomats said. A delegation of eight envoys, led by Britain, was to have taken part in meetings on Monday with Sudanese officials and African Union officials at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.But differences emerged about whether the group had a mandate to engage in discussions, the size of the delegation and whether the visit should supersede a planned trip to Addis three days later from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his staff, the envoys said. "We haven't been able to reach consensus on the meeting in Addis Ababa," Peru's U.N. Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, the current president, told reporters after lengthy consultations among the 15 council members. He said there were disagreements over two issues. One was "the mandate the delegation would have, constraints they would have, what message they would convey."
"The other was the composition. A number of delegations had volunteered to go but we received suggestions that we appoint a smaller delegation. But this matter also didn't reach consensus," Voto-Bernales said.
At issue is an Aug. 31 Security Council resolution authorizing up to 22,500 U.N. troops, police and civilians for Darfur, providing the Sudan government agreed. The AU extended its invitation in September but since then Khartoum has been adamant about rejecting a force under United Nations command, calling it colonialism.