US Senator Biden to meet with UN Secretary General on Darfur

US Senator Biden to meet with UN Secretary General on Darfur

By Wasil Ali
May 20, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Democratic presidential candidate, will meet with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday to discuss progress in resolving the conflict in Darfur.

Biden has been one of the most outspoken US lawmakers in urging the US administration intervention in Darfur. He called last April for the use of military force to end the suffering in Darfur.
Last month Biden summoned Andrew Natsios, President Bush’s Special envoy to Sudan to testify before the committee on the Darfur crisis. Natsios came under fire from Biden and other US lawmakers who expressed impatience with lack of progress in Darfur.
Biden told Natsios during the hearing that “it’s time to put force on the table and use it [in Darfur]”. He added that senior U.S. military officials in Europe told him that 2,500 U.S. troops could "radically change the situation on the ground now."
The US has threatened Sudan with a ‘Plan B’ if it doesn’t agree to the proposed deployment of a "hybrid" force of 20,000 United Nations and AU peacekeepers and police officers. However the US has held off on sanctions at the request of the UN Secretary General.
Last week the US has signaled its impatience with the fruitless diplomacy of the UN Secretary General. US officials recently revealed to Reuters that the White House may proceed with sanctions as very soon pending a decision from President Bush.
(ST)