Friday, June 13, 2008

UN Security Council urged to get tough in Darfur violations

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - The UN Security Council should get tougher in its efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict, mediators said Thursday, warning of a worsening humanitarian and security situation on the ground.

"We can't deal with the problem alone," said Jan Eliasson, UN special envoy to the region.


"We can't reach full force without the weight of the Security Council (members). They have to exercise more willingness to get involved. The Security Council should take seriously that the resolution is not being implemented," he told AFP in an interview in Addis Ababa.


The Khartoum government and Darfur rebel factions have defied numerous UN resolutions since the conflict erupted in 2003 when tribal insurgents started to demand a fair share of national development funds.


The Council's ambassadors in early June visited an undermanned and ill-equipped UN-led peacekeeping force and victims in Darfur and expressed frustration over dire insecurity in the region the size of France.


Eliasson's co-mediator, African Union special envoy Salim Ahmed Salim, agreed, telling AFP that the absence of peace talks was worsening the situation on the ground. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

No comments: