Chinese Mandarin - UN chief outlines plan to solve Darfur conflict

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WORLD / Africa

UN chief outlines plan to solve Darfur conflict

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-04 10:48

KHARTOUM -- Visiting Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon
outlined on Monday a three-point plan for solving the conflict in the
western Sudanese region of Darfur.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, greets Sudan's Ambassador to the
United Nations Abdelmahmoud Abdelhalim Mohamed at Khartoum airport in
Khartoum, Sudan Monday, Sept. 3, 2007. [AP]

The plan sketched by the UN secretary general includes the implementation
of an international peacekeeping operation, seeking a political solution
through peace negotiations as well as promoting humanitarian aid and
development.

At a rally attended by UN workers, local political leaders, officials and
representatives of the Darfurians, Ban lamented the conflicts in Darfur
and pledged the part of the international community to help solve the
crises and stop standing by as " seemingly helpless witnesses."

The UN Security Council adopted on July 31 a resolution authorizing the
deployment of 26,000 multinational peacekeepers in Darfur, jointly run by
the UN and the African Union (AU).

"This unprecedented operation marks a new era in UN-AU cooperation," Ban
said, noting that "it is one of the largest and most complex peacekeeping
missions the UN has ever undertaken."

He reiterated that "peacekeeping must be accompanied by a political
solution," urging the parties involved in the conflict to "begin a new
and conclusive round of peace negotiations as soon as possible."

Ban said that any real solution to the Darfur conflict " requires
sustained economic development and solutions that go to the root causes
of the conflict."

"As part of the solution, the (Sudanese) government with international
assistance will have to ensure that the people of Darfur have access to
vital natural resources - water being chief among them. The UN stands
ready to assist in this effort," the UN chief added.

He said that the current international relief operation in Darfur, the
world's largest humanitarian operation assisting more than 4.2 million
people, must continue.

Ban, who arrived in Khartoum on Monday for an official visit termed by
the Sudanese government as a "historic," is to have meetings with
Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir, the two vice presidents and other
senior officials as well as leaders of the opposition parties and
representatives of the Darfur rebel groups.

Local officials expected that at the end of the visit, the Sudanese
government and the UN chief will announce the date and the place of the
next round of the Darfur peace negotiations, which has been deadlocked
since the Sudanese government signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA)
with a main rebel faction in May, 2006.

During the five-day visit in Sudan, the UN secretary general will pay a
field tour in Darfur, where he will inspect a refugee camp and a new base
for the hybrid peacekeeping force the UN and the AU have planed to send
to the region by the end of this year.

Sudanese Foreign Minister lam Akol on Monday praised Ban Ki- moon for his
continuous concern with the Darfur issue, noting that Ban's visit would
be a good opportunity which Sudan must use take in order to keep
dialogue, discussion and exchange of views with the UN chief.

UN officials said that Ban Ki-moon would ask the Sudanese government to
accelerate the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1769 on
the UN-AU peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

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