Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Sudan may need up to 10,000 peacekeepers, if the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army reach a deal to end their 20-year civil war. How much the Sudanese government is on board with any United Nations or American plan is debatable. A week before, the Sudanese State Foreign Minister claimed that his government did not want an international peacekeeping force to oversee the six-year transition period planned to follow a final peace agreement. The government considers peacekeeping to be mainly a Sudanese responsibility, while the role of the international community (including the European Union) will be to back up the Sudanese merely as observers. - Adam Geibel