Region | Sudan
British Foreign Secretary Miliband calls for end to Darfur bombing
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called on Friday for Sudan to speed up the deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur and to end aerial bombing in the troubled region's western districts.
- AP
- Published: 21:36 February 29, 2008
Beijing: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called on Friday for Sudan to speed up the deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur and to end aerial bombing in the troubled region's western districts.
Miliband said the international community is united in the need for a hybrid United Nations-African Union force, but the effort is stalled by a lack of necessary support from Khartoum.
"The government of Sudan has to facilitate [peacekeepers'] entry in sufficient numbers and ensure they can do their job properly," Miliband said in a speech to students at prestigious Peking University on the final day of his visit to China.
Sudan must also end the "terrible bombings in West Darfur," Miliband said, referring to a fresh offensive by government soldiers and Arab militiamen against rebels in the war-torn region where hundreds of thousands have been killed in bombings by militias.
At least 12,000 refugees have fled to Chad this month to escape the escalating violence, the UN says, while renewed aerial bombardments by the Sudanese government in West Darfur are endangering tens of thousands of civilians.
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