U.N. chief sends appeal to Sudan

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has put his personal diplomatic clout on the line to end the bloodshed in Darfur, demanding a cease-fire and fresh peace talks in a letter to Sudan's president, U.S. and Sudanese diplomats said Saturday.

Ban has asked the Security Council to hold off on sanctions to give President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir time to respond to the confidential letter, which was delivered Friday.

The letter is meant to signal a last chance for Bashir to stop attacks by Arab militias that are believed to be supported by the government. If Sudan continues to stall or backtrack on agreements, diplomats here say, even Sudan's strongest allies in the Security Council will have little excuse to stop strong sanctions on Sudan.

"The ball is in Sudan's court now, and they don't have a lot of time to agree," said Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "Our patience is running out."

Ban handed the letter directly to Sudan's ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, for relay to Sudan's president.

It coincides with a broader push by the U.N.'s special envoys for Sudan to end a wave of violence between the Sudanese government and allied militias and rebel groups who want more autonomy in the Darfur region of Sudan. At least 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million people have been displaced since fighting broke out in 2003.

The violence has touched the troops sent to protect Darfur's civilians as well. Gunmen—perhaps burglars—shot a U.N. peacekeeper Saturday in his home in Darfur, the world body's first casualty since it deployed 180 staff to back up an overwhelmed African Union force in December. The AU, which has about 7,000 soldiers in Darfur, has lost 19 peacekeepers since its force was dispatched to the troubled region nearly three years ago.

Ambassador Abdalhaleem confirmed that Bashir had received the letter Friday and had a "cordial conversation" with Ban the same day, inviting the secretary-general to Darfur to see the situation for himself.

"It is a good letter," said Abdalhaleem in an interview Saturday. "We have no disagreement with anything in that letter."

Abdalhaleem said the government would commit to a unilateral cease-fire as soon as rebels come to the table for peace talks. "We are ready for a cease-fire today," he said. "We have no conditions for that."