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France seeks 'firm' Darfur action US seeks redoubled Darfur efforts
(about 2 hours later)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the world to be "firm" with Sudan if it refuses to co-operate with efforts to end the conflict in Darfur. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has urged the world's powers to "redouble" their efforts to end the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.
He said "silence was killing" in the troubled region, as he opened talks in Paris between the world's major powers. Ms Rice said they could not "continue to sit by", after an international conference in Paris on the violence that has left some 200,000 people dead.
Some 200,000 people have died and 2.4m fled the violence in Darfur since 2003. Officials from the US, Europe and the Arab League discussed how to speed up the deployment of UN troops to Darfur.
Officials from the US, Europe, China and the Arab League are among those at the conference, but Sudan and the rebel factions are not represented there. But Sudan said the talks were premature as it had already agreed to the force.
The Sudanese government was not invited, while the African Union is boycotting the conference because it regards the French initiative as a distraction from its own mediation efforts. The Sudanese Foreign Minister, Lam Akol, told the BBC that his government was in complete agreement with the composition of the peacekeeping force, its command, the nature of its operation and its mission.
'Unacceptable' The ball is actually in the court of the United Nations Lam AkolSudanese Foreign Minister
Speaking before the start of the conference, Mr Sarkozy called for the swift deployment of thousands of UN peacekeepers to support the current small African Union force presently operating in Darfur. "We are ready to have the force deployed at any time," he told the BBC's Newshour programme.
We must be firm toward belligerents who refuse to join the negotiating table Nicolas Sarkozy "The ball is actually in the court of the United Nations to expedite the operation."
The Sudanese government was not invited to the talks, while the African Union boycotted the conference because it regarded the French initiative as a distraction from its own mediation efforts.
Momentum
Speaking after the gathering in France, Ms Rice said it had enabled the participating countries to "take stock" of the situation in Darfur and make sure they were doing everything they could.
"The international community simply cannot continue to sit by," she told reporters.
There is a little light at the end of the darkness Bernard Kouchner
"We really must redouble our efforts."
Ms Rice also warned the international community not to lose the momentum generated by the conference.
"Those who have been around this for a while are going to work very hard against backtracking," she said.
"We have had circumstances in which we have had agreements before and those agreements have not gone forward."
Ms Rice's French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, said the future was brighter for Darfur after the conference.
"There is a little light at the end of the darkness," he said.
'Firm'
Before the meeting, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on the international community to be "firm" with Sudan if it refused to co-operate with efforts to end the conflict in Darfur.
"Silence is killing," he said.
Mr Sarkozy called for the swift deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur to support the current small African Union force presently operating there.
HAVE YOUR SAY The world is not failing Darfur, Africa is failing Darfur! It's about time that the African nations started taking a little responsibility for affairs on their own continent Mike Vickers, Cognac Send us your comments
He also pledged an additional 10m euros ($13.4m) to the AU force.He also pledged an additional 10m euros ($13.4m) to the AU force.
"The lack of decision and the lack of action are unacceptable," he said."The lack of decision and the lack of action are unacceptable," he said.
While Mr Sarkozy praised the Sudanese government for agreeing to the formation of a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force, he insisted it had to make more of an effort to bring peace to Darfur.While Mr Sarkozy praised the Sudanese government for agreeing to the formation of a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force, he insisted it had to make more of an effort to bring peace to Darfur.
"We must be firm toward belligerents who refuse to join the negotiating table," he said."We must be firm toward belligerents who refuse to join the negotiating table," he said.
Massacres On Sunday, the US and France said the world had failed the people of Darfur and that there was a need for decisive action.
On Sunday, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said the world had failed the people of Darfur.
"I do not think that the international community has really lived up to its responsibilities here," she told a news conference with the new French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner.
HAVE YOUR SAY The world is not failing Darfur, Africa is failing Darfur! It's about time that the African nations started taking a little responsibility for affairs on their own continent Mike Vickers, Cognac Send us your comments
The two foreign ministers said there was a need for decisive action.
"If in fact the Sudanese are prepared to accept the hybrid force, they need to accept it once and for all and stop the process of trying to scale it back," Ms Rice said.
Mr Kouchner said there was still time to end the killing.
"I know that it has been going on for years. So what? Is that a reason to not be interested and let the massacres go on forever? Even if the massacres were bigger, they must be stopped," Mr Kouchner added.
Sudan's government denies backing the Arab Janjaweed militias accused of the worst atrocities against Darfur's black African population.Sudan's government denies backing the Arab Janjaweed militias accused of the worst atrocities against Darfur's black African population.
Khartoum says the scale of the problems has been exaggerated for political reasons.Khartoum says the scale of the problems has been exaggerated for political reasons.