Britain says Darfur undermines peace process in southern Sudan

KAMPALA, Uganda, Aug 27, 2004 (PANA) — The conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur is undermining the peace process the country’s south, British Secretary of State for African Affairs Chris Muler remarked here late Thursday.

The Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) of Colonel John Garang
signed a truce with Khartoum on the 20-year secessionist war in
southern Sudan, but attention has since shifted from following up
the Naivasha (Kenya) peace to resolving containing the crisis in
Darfur.

“Obviously the conflict in Darfur has disrupted the peace process
in southern Sudan. We are concerned about the setbacks,” Muler
told a news conference in Kampala after a lengthy meeting with
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

“It is the primary responsibility of Khartoum and the SPLA to see
that the peace process is on the right course through effective
implementation of the agreement signed in Kenya,” Muler said.

Concerning Darfur, Muler said the international community was
concerned about the slowness of efforts to end the conflict
there.

“The El Bashir regime in Khartoum must allow the international
community plays its role in ending the conflict,” he stressed.

While here, he visited war-rocked northern Uganda and stressed
the need to keep all options open to ending the 18-year long
insurgency mounted by rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).