"Time For Change" for Darfur says UK PM

Time for change" for Darfur says PM

The UK and France, with US support, have agreed and tabled a UN Security Council resolution that could see peacekeeping troops deployed in Darfur by October.

Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the PM said that "today is an important decision day for Darfur - and for change".

Mr Brown said that he hoped the proposed plan to deploy a 19,000 African Union-UN force would be approved later today. He and other leaders would work hard to deploy the force quickly and seek resolution to the "greatest humanitarian disaster the world faces today", he continued.

Peace talks will begin in Tanzania this Friday and once a ceasefire is achieved, the region will be helped with recovery and reconstruction.

Mr Brown added:

"But we must be clear if any party blocks progress and the killings continue, I and others will redouble our efforts to impose further sanctions.

"The message for Darfur is that it is time for change."

The PM's speech to an invited audience at the UN followed a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

As he left the UN later on, Mr Brown told reporters that he was "not prepared to let this tragedy continue without action".

ENDS

© Scoop Media