For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 10, 2004
G-8 Statement on Sudan
We, the Leaders of the G-8, warmly welcome the May 26 signing by
the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) of protocols on Power Sharing, Abyei, and on the Two Areas (of
Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains). We urge the parties to reach a
final and comprehensive agreement which includes a timetable and
security arrangements as quickly as possible. We hope that this
agreement and its faithful implementation will end one of the world's
most painful conflicts and begin a new era of Sudanese peace and
prosperity.
We also wish to express our grave concern over the humanitarian,
human rights, and political crisis in Darfur. We welcome the N'djamena
ceasefire agreement of April 8, and the announcement on May 20 by the
Government of Sudan that restrictions on humanitarian access will be
eased. However, there are continuing reports of gross violations of
human rights, many with an ethnic dimension. We call on all parties to
the conflict to immediately and fully respect the ceasefire, allow
unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need, and create the
conditions for the displaced to return safely to their homes. We call
especially on the Sudanese government to disarm immediately the
"Janjaweed" and other armed groups which are responsible for massive
human rights violations in Darfur. We call on the conflict parties to
address the roots of the Darfur conflict and to seek a political
solution.
We support the African Union as it assumes the leading role in the
monitoring mission which is now being sent to the Darfur region to
supervise the cease-fire agreement.
We pledge our countries' assistance in ending the conflicts in
Sudan and in providing humanitarian aid to those in need. We call on
all parties to the conflicts in Sudan to commit themselves to
respecting the right of all Sudanese to live in peace and dignity.
We look to the United Nations to lead the international effort to
avert a major disaster and will work together to achieve this end.
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