§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
In view of the statement by Mr Mukesh Kapila, the United Nations Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Sudan, in Nairobi on 19 March that the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region "is now the world's greatest humanitarian and human rights catastrophe", whether they will now discuss with other members of the United Nations Security Council possible courses of action under Articles 39 to 41 of the United Nations Charter. [HL2048]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe are in contact with other members of the UN Security Council about the situation in Darfur, western Sudan. We are working very closely with both the US and our EU partners to try to get the parties to declare a ceasefire, preferably with international monitoring, and to resume talks to find a peaceful solution to Darfur's problems.
The Government and the opposition groups have now agreed to attend ceasefire talks in Chad. We hope that these talks will start in the next few days. The Chadians will chair, with the EU and the US attending as facilitators. This is an important first step in resolving the crisis in Darfur. Given these current efforts, we do not consider that action under Articles 39 to 41 of the United Nations Charter would be appropriate.