Britain proposes to host Darfur peace talks

April 12, 2008 (LONDON) — The British Prime Minister has proposed to host peace talks between Sudanese government and rebel groups in order to end the five year civil war in western Sudan.

According to information disseminated by the office of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, British officials were in contact with the Sudanese officials and rebel groups to offer the hosting of peace talks “as soon as practicable”.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “Britain is willing to invite all parties to London for talks to see if there is a way to make some progress.”

Details of the offer were released as activists in 30 countries prepared to hold a global day of action Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Darfur conflict.

“Today, on the fifth Global Day for Darfur, the eyes of the world are rightly focused on the millions of men, women and children in the region who continue to start each day with the fear of violence, abduction, rape or death,” Brown said.

He promised to bring up the issue of deploying peacekeepers in Darfur during talks with US President George W. Bush and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the United States next week.

Brown said in a statement he was frustrated at the “appalling situation and the slow progress” in brokering peace talks.

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been forced to flee homes in Darfur since the conflict erupted in 2003, when rebels took up arms against the central government.

Till recently the British Prime Minister threatened several time to impose sanctions against Khartoum government over Darfur violence.

“I believe we must strengthen our sanctions against the Sudanese government. We should have military sanctions for the whole of Sudan,” he told the House of Commons on March 12..

During a recent visit to Beijing, Brown s asked Chinese officials, an ally of the Sudanese government, to intervene over Darfur.

(ST)