Downing Street Says

Asked whether, since the Prime Minister’s recent statement regarding the situation in Darfur was strongly worded, had he spoken to the government in Sudan, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had been concerned about Sudan for quite some time. It was a recurring issue that he discussed with partners whenever he met them, and he had discussed it both with President Bush and Premier Wen of China in recent days. The Prime Minister did believe that Sudan did need to recognise the role of the UN and the African Union force, and the Prime Minister also believed that those who had not signed the peace agreement should do so. Therefore, there was a need to focus people’s minds on this, because we were very concerned about the situation in Darfur, which was completely unacceptable and getting worse, and it shouldn’t be. We all knew what needed to happen; we now needed to make sure that it did happen.

Asked again if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Government of Sudan, the PMOS said that the Government of Sudan had absolutely no doubt at all about what our position was.

Asked by ITN if the Prime Minister might do something to camera regarding Darfur, the PMOS replied no. The statement did speak for itself, and as people had said earlier, it was a very strongly worded statement. This was precisely because of the Prime Minister’s on-going concern. The PMOS said that this had not been a matter that had been on the back burner as we were concerned, but rather, we had been making private representations on this for quite some time, and the Prime Minister believed that it was right now to put his concern in the public domain.

Asked again by ITN that would it not be a better way to get across the Prime Minister’s view by doing it for television as well, the PMOS replied that the words themselves were quite effective.

Asked if the Prime Minister was inspired into this by George Clooney, the PMOS replied that if people looked at when we visited Sudan, it pre-dated Mr. Clooney’s words.

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with George Clooney’s warning to the UN that this was "your Auschwitz, your Rwanda, happening on your watch", also, whether there was anything that the UN could do to impose a pause on Darfur, or did the Prime Minister think that was unrealistic, as the Premier of China had said the other day that the Government of China had backed the Government of Sudan’s rights to reject any UN recommendation, the PMOS said that in terms of George Clooney’s words, we all expressed ourselves in our own way.

Therefore, people should take what the Prime Minister had said in its own right. With regards to the UN, the UN had taken the lead on resolutions, including imposing sanctions, starting an ICC investigation, and authorising the UN’s force in Darfur. What we had to do was therefore make a concerted international effort, and we were working with the African Union, the EU and the UN and the US on high-level initiatives that set out what we expected of Sudan. As a result, we would be making clear what Sudan could expect from the international community if it shouldered its responsibilities, but also, what it could expect if it did not. The PMOS said that we had to go through that process. As the Prime Minister had said when we were there, Sudan should not in any way think that we were going to turn our eyes away from this. We were not.

Asked if the Government of Sudan did not have a veto on UN action, the PMOS replied that we had to see where we got to as a result of the discussions with our international partners, but the Prime Minister had a very firm view on this.

Asked if our people in the UN would be pushing for a Resolution under Chapter 7, the PMOS said that he was always reluctant to get ahead of the discussions that were taking place. People could indicate from the Prime Minister’s statement the firmness of his view on this issue.

Asked what shape the initiative would take, the PMOS said that that would be a matter for discussion with our international partners, and we should let them take place first.

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» Friday, September 15, 2006

Darfur

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