UN to ‘step up’ Darfur actions, Ban tells Bush

July 17, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told US President George W. Bush Tuesday that he would “step up” UN efforts to quell violence in Darfur and backed his host’s call for a Middle East conference.

Ban cited “considerable progress” towards quelling violence in Darfur and vowed “we are going to step up the political process” after “positive” talks in Tripoli on holding new talks between Khartoum and fragmented rebel groups.

The president used his remarks during a joint appearance after talks at the White House to focus on a just-released US intelligence report that warned that Al-Qaeda had regrouped and planned new terrorist attacks on the United States.

Bush said they had discussed his new Middle East peace overture, efforts to create a tribunal in the murder of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri, as well as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Darfur but offered no further details.

Ban said Darfur negotiations were set for Arusha, Tanzania, in early August, and vowed to accelerate moves toward the deployment of a joint UN-African Union force.

“We are also going to facilitate humanitarian assistance,” the UN chief added. “I am going to step up efforts to deploy hybrid operations as soon as possible in Darfur, to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

On Monday, Ban urged the UN Security Council to vote this week on a draft resolution authorizing the deployment of a joint UN-AU force, saying it would allow more than 20,000 military personnel and civilian police into the strife-torn province.

(AFP)

(AFP)