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| Africa Horn |
| China urges Sudan to seek compromise in Darfur |
| 2008-03-09 |
| China has urged Sudan to do more to stop fighting in Darfur and speed the arrival of more peacekeepers, Beijing's envoy on the crisis said, defending his country as a diplomatic bridge to help end the bloodshed. China has faced widespread Western criticism that it has not used its oil, arms and business stakes in Sudan to press for an end to deadly havoc in the vast, arid Darfur region. But back from talks in Khartoum and other capitals, Beijing envoy Liu Guijin on Friday defended his country as "working hard" on Sudan and others to end fighting, and said China could serve as a go-between bringing peace closer. Departing from Beijing's usually vague language on Darfur, Liu called the violence there a "humanitarian disaster" that had "forced millions from their homes and, in particular, claimed the lives of tens of thousands". Liu told a news conference that uncompromising rebel groups also bore blame, but said Sudan's government had top responsibility for stopping the killing. He also urged Khartoum to give ground on disputes holding up full deployment of UN-African Union peacekeepers. "I conveyed China's grave concerns about the deterioration of conditions in western Darfur," Liu said of his recent meetings with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and other top Sudanese officials. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 noted. |
| Posted by: newc 2008-03-09 10:34 |