US Richardson calls for new ceasefire in Darfur

Jan 8, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A prominent US politician has met with Sudan’s foreign minister, proposing a new ceasefire and an international liaison group to stem the tide of bloodshed in the country’s war-torn province.

Bill Richardson, governor of the state of New Mexico and an experienced international envoy, went to Sudan Sunday on behalf of the Save Darfur coalition in a bid to persuade Khartoum to accept a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force to halt violence in the region.

“Richardson told the foreign minister he was ready to work with the Sudanese government for the interest of Darfur and the maintenance of the territorial integrity of Sudan,” said foreign ministry spokesman Ali Shadi on Monday.

After his meeting with Foreign Minister Lam Akol, Richardson was also to see Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who has expressed reservations about further UN involvement in his country.

Shadi said Richardson discussed delivering humanitarian aid to people in Darfur, the possibility of UN troops joining the Darfur peacekeeping mission, as well as broadening the current ceasfire to include all rebel groups.

“He also proposed the formation of a liaison group of states which will follow up the situation in Darfur and the situation with states along the western border,” Shadi added.

The conflict that has engulfed a large part of western Sudan erupted in February 2003, when ethnic minority rebels complaining of political and cultural marginalization launched an uprising which was fiercely repressed by government troops and allied militias.

The violence sponsored by the Sudanese government and perpetrated by its Janjaweed militias has claimed at least 200,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million people, according to United Nations, though some sources say the toll is much higher.

Last August, the UN Security Council approved a resolution calling for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to replace or supplement the much smaller and poorly equipped current African Union mission.

Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and launched a major offensive in the region.

But in November, the United Nations, the African Union and Sudan reached a compromise agreement providing for a mixed AU-UN peacekeeping force — a deal the Sudanese leader has formally accepted in writing but which has yet to be implemented.

During his talks in Khartoum, Richardson and his colleagues hope to nudge the process forward.

“The US has an opportunity to use leadership and diplomacy to help, and if I can play even a small part in that effort I am ready to do it,” the New Mexico governor said in a statement.

Richardson, who is often mentioned as a possible 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, has a long history of dealing with foreign leaders not friendly to the West.

The United States had given Khartoum until January 1 to accept the UN proposal or face coercive action to end the Darfur conflict.

(AFP)