Bush welcomes S. Sudan treaty, urges end to Darfur war

WASHINGTON, Jan 9, 2005 (AP) — President George W. Bush welcomed the signing of a peace treaty between Sudan and southern Sudanese rebels Sunday. He urged the Sudan government and rebels in the Darfur region to work on ending the war in Darfur as well.

Bush said that “only the implementation of this agreement in good faith can result in long-term peace and development.

“As we celebrate this positive movement toward peace in the longstanding North-South conflict, we remember the conflict in Darfur and the suffering it causes. This comprehensive peace agreement should serve as an inspiration and model for both sides in their work toward negotiating a peaceful resolution of the Darfur conflict,” Bush said.

“I call on the Government of Sudan and on all Darfur rebel groups to live up to their ceasefire commitments, to end atrocities, and to allow the free movement of humanitarian workers and supplies.”

Sudan People’s Liberation Army leader John Garang and Sudan Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha signed the accord in Nairobi, Kenya. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell signed as a witness. Powell put Sudan’s government on notice the prospect of good relations with the United States depends on halting the violence in Darfur.

“These new ‘partners for peace’ must work together immediately to end the violence and the atrocities that continue to occur in Darfur,” Powell said.

Joining Powell at the ceremony was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth. He was Bush’s special envoy to the Sudan peace process.

The southern Sudan peace deal lays out a lengthy process to merge the black African rebel movement that controls the south with the government in Khartoum in the north. During the war, more than 2 million or more people died.