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Press Release: An Axis of Peace for Darfur

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Press Release: An Axis of Peace for Darfur

Posted by Enough Team on June 13, 2007

(Washington, DC) June 13, 2007: In a strategy briefing released today, the ENOUGH Project calls for a new multilateral peace and protection initiative for Darfur from the three countries with the most leverage in Sudan: the U.S., France, and China. The separate and uncoordinated influence of the three countries has encouraged the Sudanese regime to take cosmetic steps torward accepting a joint AU/UN peacekeeping force. However, if a truly international protection force is ever to be deployed and a real peace deal to be negotiated, these three influential countries will have to coordinate much more closely in pursuit of solutions in Sudan.

ENOUGH is partnering with the Save Darfur Coalition, the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net) and STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) to urge cooperation by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in the upcoming ministerial meeting scheduled for June 25th in Paris.

Read the briefing: https://enoughproject.org/reports/axisofpeace_20070611.php

Authored by ENOUGH co-chair John Prendergast and ENOUGH Policy Advisor Colin Thomas-Jensen, the briefing advocates a “troika” approach to the Darfur crisis. “For widely divergent reasons,” Prendergast argues, “the three countries all have a vested interest in – and desire to – help bring peace and stability to Sudan.“

A “troika” for Darfur must focus on four essential components to bring peace and security to Sudan: supporting a renewed peace process for Darfur; gaining Khartoum’s acquiescence in deploying without conditions the agreed AU/UN hybrid force; pressing for continued implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government and former southern Sudanese rebels; and ensuring that Khartoum remains cooperative on counter-terrorism matters.

Sudan’s security is important to France as it borders two of its principal allies in the region, Chad and the Central African Republic. France maintains a military presence in Chad and has oil interests in southern Sudan. New French President Nicolas Sarkozy has expressed willingness for trans-Atlantic cooperation missing among his predecessor, and Darfur is high on his foreign policy agenda.

Read the briefing: https://enoughproject.org/reports/axisofpeace_20070611.php

With the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games, China is feeling pressure from the international community to clean up its human rights record, beginning by using its influence behind the scenes to push the Government of Sudan to accept a more robust peacekeeping force and adopt a more constructive attitude towards renewed peace talks.

The U.S. must capitalize on this opportunity to work with France and China to press ahead with a coordinated strategy to end the crisis in Darfur. “The three countries possess a common objective,” according to Thomas-Jensen: “A durable peace agreement that will advance regional stability, ensure the security of Sudan’s oil reserves, and reduce the threat of state failure and accompanying risk of terrorism.”

On June 25, senior U.S., French, and Chinese diplomats will be among those attending a high-level meeting in Paris on Darfur. The Bush Administration should work with French and Chinese counterparts to jump start a peace and protection initiative seeking resumption in peace talks and Khartoum’s acquiescence to an unconditional AU/UN hybrid force. Further, the U.S. must work with the French and the UK to secure Chinese cooperation on a Security Council Resolution that would impose targeted sanctions on individuals and companies complicit in the destruction of Darfur.

To read “An Axis of Peace for Darfur: The United States, France, and China,” go to www.enoughproject.org.