China optimistic Sudan will accept Darfur peacekeepers
April 9, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — China Monday said it was optimistic Sudan would accept a U.N. plan to deploy U.N. peacekeepers, along with African troops, to the troubled Darfur region but warned too much pressure on Khartoum wouldn’t be productive.
China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said his country has advised Sudan to show more flexibility with the U.N. plan and to continue dialogue with both the U.N. and African Union, which currently has 7,000 peacekeepers in Darfur, to reach a solution.
But Zhai also said all sides need to be more receptive.
“There is flexibility and there is readiness to demonstrate this flexibility in the talks to come, but this flexibility should be demonstrated in mutual consultations on an equal basis,” Zhai told reporters after meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and other senior officials.
The U.N. and Sudan agreed in November on a plan backed by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan for the incremental deployment of a joint African Union-U.N. force of 20,000 peacekeepers. But al-Bashir has since backed off the deal, saying he would allow only a larger AU force with technical and logistical support from the U.N.
Currently 7,000 AU troops patrol Darfur and many say the force is too small and ill-equipped to be effective.
An estimated 200,000 people have been killed in the four-year conflict in Darfur that began when rebels from ethnic African tribes rose up against the central government. Khartoum is accused of having responded with indiscriminate killings by unleashing the janjaweed militias of Arab nomads – blamed for the worst atrocities in Darfur. The government denies these charges.
In his speech to an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia last month, al-Bashir slammed U.N. resolutions calling for U.N. troop deployment in Darfur, saying they “provoke the conflict in Darfur instead of finding a solution for it.”
Zhai said China supported the U.N. plan and at the same time was aware of Sudan’s concerns. But, he said, “our position toward Darfur is clear. We have exercised all possible efforts, political, economic and others and advised our Sudanese brothers to accept Annan’s plan.”
The Chinese official described the U.N. plan as “practical and reasonable” and said Sudan’s concerns can be resolved if all sides show sincere intentions.
China, which maintains good relations with Sudan, buys two-thirds of its oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft, but has been criticized for not using its influence to do more to stop the crisis in the Darfur region.
John Holmes, U.N. humanitarian chief, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday 250,000 people had fled their homes in Darfur for refugee camps in the last six months, raising the number of displaced civilians now living in camps to 2.2 million.
(AP)