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France Hosts International Conference on Darfur

By Anita Elash
Paris
25 June 2007

France is hosting a major international conference on the crisis in Darfur. Among those participating are U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as well as representatives from China, which is the biggest investor in Sudan and has considerable clout there. But African leaders have refused to attend. Anita Elash reports for VOA from Paris.

Until recently, France has largely ignored the crisis in Darfur. But new French President Nicolas Sarkozy and new Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner have made it one of the government's top priorities.

More than a dozen countries are attending Moday's conference. U.S. Secretary of State Rice and U.N. Secretary General Ban Kyi Moon will be there. So will representatives from China, which is the biggest investor in Sudan and has considerable clout there. When Ms. Rice arrived for the conference, Sunday, she said the world has failed the people in the Darfur region.

"We need to generate the forces in the U.N. so that we can get them in. We need to support the African Union forces that are there," Rice said. "There is a lot to do; but I would be the first to say that I do not think the international community has yet discharged its responsibilities very effectively."

The conference has two goals: to try to accelerate the deployment of a United Nations / African Union peacekeeping force; and to try to restart the peace
process between the Sudanese government and rebel factions.

The conference is not well-supported in Africa. The Sudanese government was not invited and members of the African Union say it is a distraction and have refused to attend.