Sudan to China: "Tank you very much"

Anyone who thinks Beijing will put any serious pressure on Khartoum is living in cloud cuckoo land. (Sen. Dallaire, take note.)

China, criticized for its support for Sudan, will boost its military and other cooperation with the African country, state media reported.

China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft, but has been criticized for not using its influence to do more to stop the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday that the countries had vowed "to boost military exchanges and cooperation in various sectors" during a visit by Sudan's Joint Chief of Staff Haj Ahmed El Gaili.

[...]

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the two sides "exchanged ideas on the Darfur issue" and called for a solution by political means.

He said they talked about a plan proposed by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last year.

"We hope [hah! - MC] the Sudanese side can show further flexibility on the implementation of the Annan program," said Qin, adding there were no details on whether weapons sales were discussed.

The United Nations and Sudan agreed in November on a plan backed by Annan for the incremental deployment of a joint African Union-U.N. force of 20,000 peacekeepers, but Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has since backed off the deal, saying he only would allow a larger AU force with technical and logistical support from the United Nations...

Mark C.

Posted by markc at April 5, 2007 09:37 AM