China keen to play role in ending Darfur crisis – UN
September 10, 2007 (BRUSSELS) — China is keen to play a role in ending conflict in Darfur despite criticism from the U.S. and the European Union that it is too close to the Sudanese government, a top U.N. envoy said Monday.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, said Beijing was playing “a very important and constructive role in the (U.N.’s) Security Council to help bring a consensus” to end the fighting.
“China sees how detrimental to Africa the continuation of the conflict in Darfur is,” Guehenno told reporters after talks with E.U. officials.
Both Washington and Brussels have said China has failed to exert pressure on Sudan’s government because it is loath to risk oil and weapons deals it has with Khartoum. They argue Beijing’s position exacerbates the conflict in Darfur that has killed more than 200,000 people and created more than 2.5 million refugees.
Guehenno said China has shown its willingness to push for peace by appointing a special envoy to the region.
“I would think that China with the influence, the good relations it has with the government of Sudan, can help and bring the broader interests of Africa to bear, so that the focus is on a political solution and a negotiated agreement,” he said.
Guehenno briefed E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana and other E.U. officials on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s trip to Chad, Sudan and Libya. He also discussed E.U. plans to deploy a 3,000-strong peacekeeping force to Chad.
European nations have already started planning the deployment to help protect some 400,000 refugees and internally displaced people in camps in Chad, across the border from Darfur.
They will also provide security for some 200,000 displaced people in the north of the Central African Republic, who have also fled fighting in Darfur. The troops would be deployed in camps for refugees and in major towns but not along the lengthy border, which would require a much larger force.
A final decision on sending the E.U. force is expected later this month. However, French Gen. Henri Bentegeat, chairman of the E.U.’s military committee, said it wasn’t yet clear how many soldiers E.U. nations would contribute. France is expected to provide the bulk of the mission.
Bentegeat said the force would work closely with aid groups to improve the plight of refugees.
“What we are able to do in terms of protection … will be absolutely useless if at the same time, using our military deployment, we cannot enhance the development of the area,” Bentegeat said at a lunch with journalists and defense experts.
Guehenno said the situation in the refugee camps remained dire because of security concerns and increased fighting between Arab and rebel groups.
Guehenno said he hoped E.U. nations could provide logistics and aircraft to support a “robust” 26,000-strong joint African Union-U.N. force to quell violence in Darfur.
(AP)