Blair calls for progress on Darfur
Dec 9, 2006 (LONDON) — Britain and other countries will have to consider “alternative approaches” if Sudan’s government and rebels do not make rapid progress towards ending the Darfur crisis, Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Saturday.
In a statement on the eve of a worldwide day of protests over Darfur on Sunday, Blair urged Sudan’s government and rebels to move quickly to implement a ceasefire, commit to a political process and agree to an effective peacekeeping force.
Britain would continue to support the process agreed at talks in Addis Ababa and Abuja, he said.
“But if rapid progress is not made, we will need to consider alternative approaches, with international partners. The government of Sudan must prove it is taking its responsibilities seriously,” he said.
It was the latest suggestion by Blair that international action could be taken against Sudan if it does not accept an international peacekeeping force.
Blair told the British parliament last month there was international diplomatic support for “tougher measures” if Khartoum failed to accept the force, although he did not specify the measures.
Washington’s special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios has set a Jan. 1 deadline for Khartoum to make progress on Darfur or have the United States and others resort to what he called “Plan B.”
“The terrible suffering of the Darfur people has gone on far too long. The situation there is totally unacceptable: two million people remain in camps and as many as four million are in need of food aid,” Blair said.
Attacks from both the government of Sudan and rebel movements were prolonging the crisis, he said.
Demonstrators will march through London, from the Sudanese Embassy to Blair’s office, on Sunday to demand a halt to rapes and sexual assaults on women in Darfur. Marchers will set off rape alarms to draw attention to the crisis.
Darfur protests are being held around the world on Sunday to coincide with International Human Rights Day.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been trying without success to persuade Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to accept a “hybrid” U.N.-African Union peace force in Darfur.
But Bashir told a news conference in Khartoum on Friday the rebel National Redemption Front was responsible for the recent trouble in Darfur, which has worsened despite a partial peace agreement signed in Nigeria in May.
Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing the central government of marginalising the arid area. Khartoum mobilised tribal militias to quell the revolt. Those militias now stand accused of a campaign of rape, murder and pillage.
(Reuters)