Robert Menendez: Sputtering Start To Darfur Peace Talks Reinforces Need For Stronger International Commitment

October 29, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – Peace talks on the genocide in Darfur that began this weekend in Libya reportedly have gotten off to a sputtering start, in large part because key rebel groups declined to attend. In addition, Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi began the talks with a speech urging the international community to take a hands-off approach to the situation.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who authored a successful resolution urging the Chinese government to use its leverage for peace in Darfur (http://menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=280121), today released the following statement:

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“With hundreds of thousands dead and with the bloodshed and misery continuing, the stumbling start to peace talks is another bad omen for the suffering people of Darfur. Perhaps this peace process would be taken more seriously by all parties involved if they believed that our country and the rest of the world are serious about a strong and sustained effort to create a lasting peace.

“It was astounding that the leader of the host country would begin the talks with comments espousing the exact wrong approach to this crisis. Leaving Khartoum to deal with this on its own has already been tried – and it has led to murder, chaos and human misery.

“To end the suffering, it will take an international commitment, the level of which is currently absent. That would include more than the start-and-stop White House efforts, and it would include a stronger push by the Chinese government to use its unique leverage with Khartoum. Clearly, the war in Iraq has drained international goodwill from the Bush administration and has stretched our military thin. Still, we cannot let our efforts to stop the genocide become another casualty of the Iraq War. We must work to ensure that the international peacekeeping forces are quickly deployed and effective. We must make a stand to end the suffering.”

Source: Senator Robert Menendez