By Georgina Brennan

IRISH Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has warned the Sudanese government that they will be held collectively and individually responsible for the fate of the people of Darfur if it refuses to allow the deployment of UN personnel in the region.

The warning came as Ahern met with the Sudanese Foreign Minister and later addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

Ahern said that the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission is now essential if there is to be any prospect of improving security and promoting a political settlement in Darfur.

Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, said his country would support the African Union force, which is currently in place. But that support will not extent to the UN, he said.

Bashir dismissed international pressure to accept the UN Security Council resolution that plans for some 20,000 UN troops to take over peacekeeping in Darfur.

Also on Tuesday, Ahern met UN Secretary general Kofi Annan and had bilateral meetings with the Iranian, South African, Indonesian and Turkish foreign ministers among others.

Ahern said ongoing negotiations between Iran and Europe on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear programs were positive. He made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Man-ouchehr Mottaki on the sidelines of the 61st annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He said Ireland hoped the sides would reach a compromise at the earliest possible time.

The two ministers, recalling the two countries’ good bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry, called for bolstering of mutual ties in all fields.

Mottaki reiterated Tehran’s call for continuation of negotiations without pre-conditions in order to reach a mutually acceptable solution, adding that occupation and aggression were the two main factors behind the continuing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan and volatile situation in Lebanon and the entire region.

With regards to the Middle East, Ahern said, “The single greatest challenge to international peace and security is the situation in the Middle East. The dreadful events of recent months have again brought before the eyes of the world the continuing suffering being borne by the peoples of the region. Frustration at the long agony of the Palestinian people creates and sharpens wider divisions across the world.

“A comprehensive settlement to the inter-related problems of the region is more urgently required than at any time in the past 60 years.

“But the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians will continue to generate surges of conflict across the region until it is resolved. Any illusion that there can be a unilateral or a military solution has surely been shattered. This is a conflict about the sharing of space. The only solution lies in a negotiated outcome.”

The Irish government recently announced that it wants to increase the number of Irish volunteers serving in the developing world. Ahern also announced that a new Irish

Aid Information and Volunteering Center will open in Dublin early next year as part of the new overseas aid plan, which will see this country double its aid budget by 2012.

Later on Tuesday, Ahern met with Irish immigration groups and the local community centers. He was briefed on their plans for the coming year and their outreach programs for the vulnerable in the community. Recently the Irish government gave an increase in funding of 29% over last year, bringing funding up to $1.183 million.

On Wednesday, Ahern is meeting with leaders of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. He will get an update on the undocumented immigration issue in advance of the political elections this November. He will also discuss the prospects of comprehensive reform among.