U.N. official says Darfur crisis will continue if stalled talks fail

Published: 2007-11-05

ZALINGEI, Sudan (CNS) -- The already perilous situation in Darfur will continue to worsen if stalled peace talks fully collapse, said a top U.N. official for the western region of Sudan. U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson, in a radio interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., expressed optimism Nov. 5 that peace talks might eventually succeed. However, he warned that a successful political process is needed to help check a shifting and increasingly deteriorating situation in Darfur, the site of a grave humanitarian crisis for more than four years. "I have seen myself the desperation, the anger, the frustration in the camps. I have seen also the beginning of tribal battles, fighting over land," Eliasson told the BBC. "And all these factors lead me to the conclusion that we have to now really take advantage of the beginning of a political process." Talks between the Sudanese government and several rebel groups stalled almost immediately when they began Oct. 27 in Sirte, Libya. Several prominent rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Army, boycotted the talks.

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