US renews support for peace in Darfur

The charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Khartoum, Ambassador Joseph D Stafford, has said the US is committed to supporting peace efforts in Darfur and asked non-signatory movements to join the peace process. Stafford said the US administration was behind both parties to the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). In a speech during the closure of the The Darfur Peoples Conference, he said a military solution in Darfur would not bring peace and that the solution should be peacful, and that his administration was committed to helping the people of Darfur achieve peace and development. The US envoy for Peace in Darfur, Ambassador Dan Smith, recently concluded a visit to the states of the region. However, Dr Amin Hassan Omar, a Sudanese official charged with overseeing the peace process, told Arabstoday :“So far, we haven’t seen any real action.” The Sudanese government generally regards the US with distrust, and President Omar al-Bashir had earlier accused the US Special Envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, after South Sudan attacked the Heglig oil field last April, of being aware Juba's plans to destabilise its norther neighbour. The US had initiated an economic blockade against against Sudan after President Bashir took over in a 1989 military coup. Khartoum has said attempts to normalise relations with Washington have not worked, and that the efforts clashed with pressure groups who were not willing to have balanced relations with Sudan under Bashir.