UN envoy for Sudan Jan Eliasson said on Sunday the international
community should assume its responsibility for changing the
situation in Sudan's Darfur region for the better.
Eliasson told the opening session of an international meeting on
Darfur in the Libyan capital of Tripoli that it is time to reopen
negotiations, and he called on the parties concerned to cooperate
in setting the stage for restarting the talks.
The UN envoy, who has led missions to Darfur, said he had
witnessed the worsening security and instability that people in the
region have been suffering and the situation hampers humanitarian
relief efforts.
"We have an enormous responsibility toward the people of
Darfur," Eliasson said.
He called on all parties concerned to assume their own
responsibilities for security, stability and development in the
region.
The meeting in Tripoli, the second of its kind this year, is
expected to focus on unifying competing peace plans and
coordinating stands to pave the way for the restart of
negotiations.
Diplomats from the United Nations, the African Union (AU), the
Arab League and the European Union, as well as 18 countries
including China, attended the meeting. Also attending were the
Sudanese government and representatives of the country's rebel
groups.
At the meeting, AU envoy for Sudan Salim Ahmed Salim praised
efforts to revive negotiations and called on rebel groups to talk
to the government.
Last May, the Sudanese government reached a peace deal with the
main faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Mini Arkou
Minawi, but other rebel factions rejected the deal, claiming it had
not met all their demands.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2007)
