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| June 5, 2008 |
UN envoy to Darfur frustrated at stalled peace process
Associated Press
Thursday, June 5, 2008
GENEVA: The U.N. envoy to Darfur said Thursday that efforts to restart peace talks on ending the long conflict in the western Sudanese region have reached an impasse. The envoy, Jan Eliasson, said he had talked in Geneva with officials from Sudan and neighboring Chad, Eritrea, Libya and Egypt. The talks showed it is unlikely peace talks can be convened soon, he said.
"In the absence of a realistic negotiation ... we have to now make sure that this conflict does not escalate," he told reporters. "It's dangerous enough."
U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes and the U.N.-AU force's envoy, Rodolphe Adada, said in late April that suffering in the western Sudanese region was worsening as fighting escalated and tens of thousands more people were driven from their homes.
Eliasson said no further increase in suffering could be tolerated.
"The suffering of the population has been going on for so long now that if we have an escalation with this very small margin of survival for people in Darfur, then we may have the risk of a catastrophic development," he said.
"The prospects for substantive talks are dim," Eliasson said.. "We go through disappointments and frustration to a degree that I haven't seen myself in my 25 years or so of mediation," said Eliasson.
Salim Ahmed Salim, the African Union's envoy to Darfur, also expressed frustration.
"We have done everything humanly possible. We've gone by helicopter, gone by planes, gone by vehicles throughout the length and breadth of Darfur," he said. "We've appealed to the government of Sudan ad nauseam. “
But Eliasson said despite the somber atmosphere, he was determined to continue his efforts to bring the Sudanese government and the main rebel groups to a table.
"We meet the people who need peace," he said. "That's what keeps you going."