December 2, 10

NEWS / Deadly clash during Darfur protests warrants investigation

2 December 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a probe into an incident on Wednesday in which at least one person died and several were wounded when protesters clashed with Sudanese security forces at a university in West Darfur.

The incident took place as the African Union-United Nations Joint Chief Mediator, Djibril Bassolé, and Qatari Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Abdulla Al-Mahmoud were meeting with civil society representatives at the University of Zalingei.

“The Secretary-General deeply regrets the loss of life and calls for a full investigation to ascertain the facts pertaining to the incident,” his spokesperson said in a statement issued yesterday.

“The Secretary-General would like to emphasise that the parties to the conflict and all Darfurians must be able to express their views freely and openly in Darfur,” the statement added.

The joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said yesterday that it is looking into the incident.

Mr. Bassolé and Mr. Al-Mahmoud have been holding extensive consultations with local authorities and civil society representatives this week in Darfur as part of their efforts to advance the peace process aimed at ending a conflict in which some 300,000 have been killed and 2.7 million other driven from their homes in the past seven years.

The Secretary-General called on the Government and all armed movements to fully engage in the ongoing negotiations and to demonstrate their willingness to make real compromises to address the concerns of the Darfur population “who have waited too long for peace.”

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36932&Cr=Darfur&Cr1=