US Bush seeks momentum for Darfur peace

May 8, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — President Bush is trying to build momentum for a peace accord to end the bloody conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Bush was to make a statement about Darfur on Monday.

The statement comes after Sudanese authorities and Darfur’s main rebel group reached a peace agreement that could help end a conflict that has killed at least 180,000 people in three years and displaced some 2 million.

On Saturday, the president called Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president who hosted talks on Darfur, and Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the president of the Republic of Congo and current head of the 53-nation African Union.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan wants Sudan to grant visas to a U.N. assessment team so it can visit Darfur and start planning for a U.N. peacekeeping force to take over from the African Union troops. Sudan has refused to allow the team to visit.

The agreement signed Friday was between the government and the main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army

(ST/AP)