Bush Calls for More Troops, Role for NATO in Darfur

ORLANDO, Fla. — President Bush on Friday called for doubling the international troops in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region and a bigger role for NATO in the peacekeeping effort.

Bush has concluded that peace talks will not halt the violence that has left 180,000 dead and more than 2 million homeless in Darfur, administration officials said.

The president had resisted calls for a bigger U.S. role and relied on the African Union to take the lead, with increased help from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. U.S. officials also had pressed Sudan to rein in militias.

But the violence continued, and almost no progress has been made in peace talks between Sudan’s government and rebels.

After talks with world leaders, including United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Bush decided to call for an additional 7,000 or more troops under U.N. command, along with the 7,000 African Union troops there, the officials said.

But many details need to be worked out. Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, a Pentagon spokesman, said it is “premature to speculate” on increases in U.S. troops.