Redoubling Efforts? The International Community and Darfur

Meeting on Darfur ends with few signs of progress
By Craig S. Smith
International Herald Tribune
Published: June 25, 2007

PARIS: They came, they met, they agreed that more must be done, but a Paris meeting aimed at solving the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan ended with little visible progress Monday.

"We really must redouble our efforts, and I think that that was the spirit of today's conference," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a brief news conference following the day of closed-door meetings. "The point here was to take stock of where we are and to make sure that we are doing everything we can."

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France said the delegations from 18 countries, including Sudan's major donors, the Group of 8 industrialized countries and China had reaffirmed their support for a joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping force according to a deal hammered out with Khartoum earlier this month.

"There is a little light at the end of the darkness," Kouchner said.

But there was no announcement of who would contribute soldiers to the force, nor was there any signal that China had softened its resistance to levy sanctions on Sudan, a measure that would require Chinese acquiescence for it to win UN Security Council approval. China is a staunch Khartoum ally and major buyer of Sudanese oil.

France did say it would contribute about €10 million, or $13.5 million, to help fund the peacekeeping force. The country has spent just €2.5 million on aid to Darfur so far this year and only €3.9 million for all of 2006, according to UN figures. The European Union also promised to spend an extra €31 million for humanitarian relief in the coming months.

Since early 2003, an Arab militia known as the janjaweed have been raping and killing non-Arabs in Darfur, ostensibly as part of the Sudanese government's effort to suppress a rebellion there.

The United States labeled the violence genocide in 2004, but the international community has done little to stop it.

The African Union and the United Nations hope to get all factions to sit down for peace talks in August. China's special envoy, Liu Guijin, said Monday that the Sudanese government was ready to participate in such talks.

But delegates said that with more than a dozen armed groups operating in the region, negotiating peace will be difficult.