Security Council calls on Darfur combatants to make peace based on Doha declaration

The Security Council today called upon all parties to the long-running conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan to reach an agreement based on the Doha Document for Peace presented to the Council yesterday.

“The members of the Security Council called on all parties urgently to resolve their differences, and called on them to make every effort to reach a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive peace agreement as soon as possible, on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace,” the Council said in a press statement.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received a copy of the declaration on Monday and “welcomed it as the basis for reaching a permanent ceasefire and inclusive peace settlement, and sustainable peace and stability in Darfur,” according to information released by a spokesperson for Mr. Ban.

The Secretary-General met earlier this week with Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Djibril Bassolé and Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdulla Al-Mahmoud, who co-chaired the Conference of Stakeholders in Darfur, held in Doha at the end of last month.

Some 500 persons participated in the conference in the Qatari capital, representing the Sudanese Government, Darfurian rebel movements, civil society delegates, representatives of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Sudanese political party leaders and elected members of state legislatures and the national Parliament.

An estimated 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict between rebels, Government forces and allied militiamen erupted in 2003 and about 2.7 million others have had to flee their homes. Both sides have been accused of numerous human rights abuses.