China calls for swift resolution of Darfur crisis

April 29, 2007 (CAIRO) — China on Sunday called for pushing forward the ongoing political process in resolving the Darfur issue in the Sudanese western region.

Chinese Foreign Ministry official Song Aiguo made the call in a two-day multipartite meeting on Darfur which ended earlier on Sunday in Tripoli, according to news reports reaching here from the Libyan capital.

Speaking at the meeting, Song, who led the Chinese delegation to the meeting, explained China’s stance on the Darfur issue and its efforts in solving the problem, saying all concerned parties should push forward political process and the peacekeeping action in Darfur.

The meeting, called for by Libya, gathers Sudan’s Foreign Minister Lam Akol, special Darfur envoys from the United Nations, the African Union, the United States, the European Union and Britain, and senior officials or ministers from France, China, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Chad and Eritrea.

Song also called on the international community to provide more assistance to Darfur to improve the humanitarian situation there in order to help realizing peace, stability and development in the Sudanese region.

The multipartite meeting, which started on Saturday night, reconfirmed Sunday support for the three-phase support plan agreed by the UN, the AU and the Sudanese government on the deployment of a hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force in November last year, also known as the Annan plan as it was put forward by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The major players in the meeting also expressed “grave concern” over the situation in Darfur, urging all conflicting parties in the Darfur region to immediately cease hostilities and act upon their commitment to uphold a ceasefire.

Sudan is under mounting international pressure to approve the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur as the United States and Britain had threatened to propose new sanctions if Khartoum fails to accept a full joint UN-AU peacekeeping force.

(Xinhua)