France criticise attack against UN-African Union force in Darfur

The French government on Monday slammed an attack two days ago on the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in which seven soldiers were killed and seventeen others wounded, a statement said here. The Foreign Ministry said that it was "concerned by the deterioration of the security situation in Darfur," where for over six years troops and militias from Sudan have been fighting rebel forces in the region, with a huge cost to the local, civilian population. While estimates are difficult, well over 300,000 civilians are believed to have perished and close to two million have been forced to flee, both internally and externally. "France strongly condemns the attack against a patrol from the...(UNAMID) which cost the lives of seven Tanzanian soldiers and wounded seventeen others on July 13," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. France "calls on the Sudanese government to rapidly investigate this attack and bring those responsible to justice." The French authorities also reiterated their "full support for UNAMID and the States contributing to the consolidation of peace in Darfur." Paris also called on all parties to join the Doha peace process and urged the Sudanese authorities to follow up on their commitments in favour of the development of Darfur. Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Beshir and several of his key lieutenants are being sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to answer charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur conflict and international arrest warrants have been issued in this regard.