Rebel JEM urges Paris conference concrete steps for Darfur peace

June 24, 2007 (LONDON) — A Darfur rebel group has urged Paris conference on Darfur to undertake concrete steps to resolve the four year conflict, the rebel said the root causes of the conflict must be highly considered.

Welcoming the Paris conference on Darfur, the spokesperson of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Ahmed Hussein Adam, has urged the international key players in Darfur crisis to focus efforts on peace process un the region.

He also said that this meeting of the international contact group should adopt concrete measures in order to help for the resolution of the conflict. He added that the resolution of the meeting should take into account the political and economic root causes of the crisis.

“One of the most important conclusions of this meeting that we expect should be that international community would speak with one voice with Khartoum.”

“Also we do hope that Khartoum’s protector, China, will commit its self with the outcome of the meeting and stop its blind support of the Sudanese regime.” Adam said.

The rebel spokesperson said that this meeting should mull plans for the reconstruction and development of Darfur in the post conflict period.

France hopes – through this meeting — to mobilize the international community at what French officials called a “pivotal moment” in the four-year conflict, following the Sudanese government’s agreement earlier this month to allow the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in the region.

Monday’s meeting, which will include representatives from Egypt, the United Nations and the World Bank but not the African Union, will likely support an AU-U.N. mediation initiative which hopes to have all factions ready to begin talks around August.

(ST)