(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-04 10:48

KHARTOUM -- Visiting Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon outlined on Monday a three-point plan for solving the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, greets Sudan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdelmahmoud Abdelhalim Mohamed at Khartoum airport in Khartoum, Sudan Monday, Sept. 3, 2007. [AP]

The plan sketched by the UN secretary general includes the implementation of an international peacekeeping operation, seeking a political solution through peace negotiations as well as promoting humanitarian aid and development.

At a rally attended by UN workers, local political leaders, officials and representatives of the Darfurians, Ban lamented the conflicts in Darfur and pledged the part of the international community to help solve the crises and stop standing by as " seemingly helpless witnesses."

The UN Security Council adopted on July 31 a resolution authorizing the deployment of 26,000 multinational peacekeepers in Darfur, jointly run by the UN and the African Union (AU).

"This unprecedented operation marks a new era in UN-AU cooperation," Ban said, noting that "it is one of the largest and most complex peacekeeping missions the UN has ever undertaken."

He reiterated that "peacekeeping must be accompanied by a political solution," urging the parties involved in the conflict to "begin a new and conclusive round of peace negotiations as soon as possible."

Ban said that any real solution to the Darfur conflict " requires sustained economic development and solutions that go to the root causes of the conflict."

"As part of the solution, the (Sudanese) government with international assistance will have to ensure that the people of Darfur have access to vital natural resources - water being chief among them. The UN stands ready to assist in this effort," the UN chief added.

He said that the current international relief operation in Darfur, the world's largest humanitarian operation assisting more than 4.2 million people, must continue.

Ban, who arrived in Khartoum on Monday for an official visit termed by the Sudanese government as a "historic," is to have meetings with Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir, the two vice presidents and other senior officials as well as leaders of the opposition parties and representatives of the Darfur rebel groups.

Local officials expected that at the end of the visit, the Sudanese government and the UN chief will announce the date and the place of the next round of the Darfur peace negotiations, which has been deadlocked since the Sudanese government signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) with a main rebel faction in May, 2006.

During the five-day visit in Sudan, the UN secretary general will pay a field tour in Darfur, where he will inspect a refugee camp and a new base for the hybrid peacekeeping force the UN and the AU have planed to send to the region by the end of this year.

Sudanese Foreign Minister lam Akol on Monday praised Ban Ki- moon for his continuous concern with the Darfur issue, noting that Ban's visit would be a good opportunity which Sudan must use take in order to keep dialogue, discussion and exchange of views with the UN chief.

UN officials said that Ban Ki-moon would ask the Sudanese government to accelerate the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1769 on the UN-AU peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

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