Hu Calls for United Effort in Darfur

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday reiterated a call for the international community to "seize favorable opportunity" and seek to bring an end to the conflict in Darfur.

Hu spoke while meeting with Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.

Hu encouraged the establishing of a solid peacekeeping and political process, and for the Sudanese government to receive help in improving the humanitarian and security situations in the Darfur region.

"China will, as always, continue to play a constructive role," Hu said.

Hu said China appreciated the efforts made by Sudanese factions to respect the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed on January 9, 2005 between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Not long ago, Hu said, the Sudanese government, the United Nations and African Union (AU) had agreed to dispatch a hybrid force to the Darfur region, a move widely welcomed by the international community.

"Facts show that the trilateral talk among the Sudanese government, the UN and the AU is an effective mechanism to solve the Darfur issue," Hu said.

Mayardit said the Sudanese government remained fully committed to settling Darfur through political dialogue.

"After the Abuja agreement, the rebel groups (in Darfur) are splitting...now they have come to more than 10 groups. It is very difficult to determine," Mayardit told a news briefing at the end of his Beijing visit later Thursday.

The Darfur Peace Agreement has overseen all attempts to resolve the Darfur issue, but only one rebel faction signed with the Sudanese government in the Nigerian capital of Abuja in 2006.

"We will have a comprehensive peace in our country. Hopefully, we will succeed in bringing on board those who have not signed the peaceful agreement," Mayardit said.

He expressed gratitude for China for its peacekeeping and humanitarian contributions to Sudan.

As president of the southern Sudan region, Mayardit called for further Chinese investment in the area and vowed to safeguard the security of Chinese there.

This was Mayardit's second visit to China, and his six-day visit will see him take in the cites of China's financial center of Shanghai and the southwestern city of Chongqing.