Statement by Co-Chairs of Meeting of Foreign Ministers on the Situation in Sudan

STATEMENT BY THE CO-CHAIRS

Secretary of State of the United States of America, Dr. Condoleezza Rice,
and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Dr. Per Stig Møller,

As concerned representatives of the international community, we stand united in our commitment to help the people of Darfur achieve peace through the restoration of stability. The killings, violence and atrocities must end. The intolerable suffering of the people of Darfur must stop. We call on all groups to immediately cease violent attacks and to facilitate the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance. All groups have an obligation to protect humanitarian workers and allow them access to affected populations. We welcome the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council that African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) peacekeepers remain in Darfur, and commend their courageous efforts to protect civilians and humanitarian workers.

We commend the Government of National Unity and Sudan Liberation Movement/Minawi for signing the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) and call on other non-signatories to accept the agreement as the foundation for peace. In this regard, we welcome the Sudanese Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Sudan Liberation Movement’s decision that UN Peacekeepers should be deployed to Darfur to implement the DPA and act as a neutral force to restore stability. We call on others in the Government of National Unity to cooperate in the full and rapiddeployment of a UN peacekeeping force to Darfur and thereby accept the consensus of the international community consistent with the communiqués of the African Union Peace and Security Council and UN Security Council Resolution 1706. This is the only responsible action to support the people of the Sudan in the pursuit of a peaceful future.

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