Envoys of the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) on Tuesday called for more efforts from concerned parties to help reach peace in the volatile Sudanese region of Darfur following a meeting of Sudan's neighbors at the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh.
At a joint press conference with UN envoy Jan Eliasson after their talks on Tuesday evening, AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim said the meeting aims to help and push the rebels in Darfur to take part in the ongoing peace process in the region.
Earlier in the day, the two envoys of international bodies met with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Chad, Eritrea and Libya here, discussing the latest developments in Sudan in general and the situation in Darfur in particular.
The AU envoy said they evaluated the situation in Darfur and vowed to further enhance their efforts for the peace of the western Sudanese region.
Noting a series of talks had been held recently for the peace of Darfur, Salim said they consider the development as "positive."
Earlier on Oct. 26, Sudan's neighboring countries held a meeting on Darfur in the Libyan costal city of Sirte, one day before the Sudanese government launched negotiations with Darfur's rebel movements in the Libyan city.
However, some main rebel factions, including the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have still been boycotting the negotiations with the government.
Salim said at the peace conference that they attach much importance to the participation of local communities in the forthcoming development.
"We are hoping those who are not involved in the peace process to take part in the forthcoming negotiations," said Salim.
For his part, UN envoy Eliasson said the peace process of Darfur need the participation of Sudan's neighbors because they have influence on Sudan.
Eliasson said that he hoped the Sudanese government would show more flexibility when meeting with rebel groups.
Eliasson also voiced his hope that countries with capability, especially western countries, should provide more support and equipment to speed up the deployment of a UN-AU peacekeeping force in the region.
The Sudanese government has announced its acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 1769 to deploy the 26,000-strong hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
Earlier in mid November during a joint mediation tour to Sudan, Eliasson and Salim highlighted the need to maintain the momentum of advancing peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups.
The Sudanese government has announced the next phase of direct talks would begin in December.
Source: Xinhua
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