The United Nations Security Council welcomed Thursday the "substantial progress" made in talks in Arusha, Tanzania, to end the ethnic conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, according to dpa. "The council continues to stress the importance to pursue political and peacekeeping tracks simultaneously," said Congolese Ambassador Basile Ikouebe, president of the 15-nation council. "Members of the council now call on all parties to move from pre- negotiations to negotiations as soon as possible and to demonstrate their commitment to the political process through concrete actions, in particular the cessation of hostilities," Ikouebe said in a statement following discussion by council members on the development. The council also urged all parties in the conflict to support the deployment of a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force of more than 30,000 military, police and civilian personnel in Darfur. The council hopes that the joint peacekeeping operation would end the ethnic conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people in Darfur since 2003.
