Brown and Sarkozy vow to redouble Darfur efforts
Gordon Brown has pledged to redouble his efforts to bring peace and stability to Darfur and has called on other international leaders to follow suit.
In a joint article with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the prime minister said the situation in Darfur is still “completely unacceptable” and warned of future sanctions if the Sudanese government and rebel leaders do not respond to peace keeping efforts.
They write: “In the coming weeks and months, we commit as leaders to redouble our efforts to make further progress”.
Last month, Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy secured a vote in the UN to deploy joint UN and African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops to the region. The first of these should be deployed in the next few weeks.
Some 20,000 peacekeepers and 4,000 international policemen will be sent to the country to quell hostilities and secure supplies.
Darfuri rebels also met in Tanzania last month as part of a UN-AU push for political negotiations.
But Mr Brown said there remains an unacceptable “gap” between the international effort and situation on the ground.
The joint article – published in the Times and French newspaper Le Monde – said: “The pain of the people of Darfur demands quick and decisive action from the international community”.
“We cannot wait a moment longer for intense international action to secure a ceasefire”.
Government minister Lord Malloch-Brown will shortly visit Sudan along with French foreign secretary Rama Yade. The two ministers will call on both sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
The UN and AU will then invite both the Sudanese government and rebel leaders to take part in political peace talks in October.
Mr Brown promised to help fund the economic redevelopment of Darfur if security can be achieved. But he warned the UK and France will push for further sanctions if Darfuri leaders refuse to respond to demands.
The two European leaders wrote: “The causes of conflict in Sudan are deep-rooted: economic, environmental and political. Neither Britain nor France, nor the people of Sudan, can achieve a successful outcome alone.
“We need cooperation from all parties and engagement from the international community.”
They concluded: “It is the combination of a ceasefire, a peacekeeping force, economic reconstruction and the threat of sanctions that can bring a political solution to the region — and we will spare no efforts in making this happen.”
More than two million Dafuri have been displaced since the conflict began and four million are now relying on aid and humanitarian assistance.
