Bush, Annan discuss Darfur, Ethiopia

COLUMBUS, United States, June 9 (AFP) — US President George W. Bush and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan talked about the crises in Darfur and Ethiopia, a White House spokesman said.

Annan related details to Bush of his recent trip to Sudan and the troubled western Darfur region, said spokesman Scott McClellan.

Bush told Annan that the United States supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member countries in their efforts to help African Union forces deploy in Darfur, McClellan said.

Annan also “expressed his support for expanding the African Union security forces from — I think approximately 3,000 to 8,000, is what we’re all committed to doing, or helping the African Union forces do,” the spokesman said.

Annan said those security forces were “having a positive impact on the ground.”

“By expanding the forces, they will have even more of a positive impact in Darfur, and it will help encourage people to return back to their villages,” Annan told Bush, according to McClellan.

Both Bush and Annan discussed the importance of keeping up pressure on Khartoum, as well as on rebels, “to sit down at the table in Abuja to resolve this in a peaceful way.”

The two also discussed unrest in Ethiopia, where as many as 26 people have died and scores injured, after police Wednesday opening fire on crowds in downtown Addis Ababa protesting the results of disputed May elections.

Bush and Annan both emphasized the need for government and opposition in Ethiopia to remain calm and to wait for final results from the election commission, McClellan said.