UN chief urges redoubled efforts to settle Darfur issue

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged on Wednesday redoubled efforts to reach final settlement for the Darfur issue.

In a closed-door briefing on his visit to Sudan, Chad and Libya, which ended at the weekend, Ban told members of the Security Council that although his trip to the region had brought "good progress" particularly the announcement that political negotiations between the government and rebels will take place in Libya on Oct. 27, "I will not say that we have had any successes yet."

He stressed that "now is the time to redouble our efforts, to move with even more speed to make good on commitments and the positive momentum we have generated so that we can finally, with the Sudanese people, see an end to the suffering and insecurity in Darfur."

Meanwhile, Ban expressed his deep concern about reports of renewed aerial bombardments and military clashes in Darfur, saying that "we must all renew our strong appeals to the parties to show restraint in the lead-up to political negotiations in October."