Sudan urges int’l community to press Darfur rebels for peace talks

KHARTOUM, Mar 12, 2005 (Xinhua) — The Sudanese government on Saturday urged the international community to press Darfur rebels for the resumption of peace talks.

A member of the Sudan Liberation Army ( SLA), listens to a radio at Dorsa village in west Darfur , October 10, 2004. (Reuters).

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail called on the international community to support the Sudanese government’s efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in the western region of Darfur.

In a press statement, Ismail said the situation in Darfur “is in progress,” calling on the international community to help the government ensure that the situation will move in the right direction.

Commenting on the contradiction of statements released by UN officials on the situation in Darfur, Ismail said such statements were formed in conformity with the context of place and time in which they were issued.

He said that the statements were also subject to different types of pressure from different institutions, referring to the contradicted statements on the security, humanitarian and health situation in Darfur.

The Sudanese official attributed the stubbornness of Darfur rebels and their refusal to return to peace talks to the fact that they were waiting for the UN Security Council to pass a resolution on the issue.

He expected Darfur rebels to return to the African Union- sponsored peace talks after an expected Security Council resolution on the Darfur issue.

UN chief Kofi Annan has urged the Secretary Council to act quickly to confront the crisis in Sudan and called for more international troops in Sudan’s violence-ravaged Darfur region.