S/PV.5768 Security Council

The President: The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Following consultations among the members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: "The Security Council stresses the urgent need for an inclusive and sustainable political settlement in Darfur and strongly welcomes, in this regard, the convening of peace talks on 27 October in Sirte, under the leadership of United Nations Special Envoy Mr. Jan Eliasson and African Union Special Envoy Dr. Salim Salim, who have the Council's full support. "The Security Council expresses its strong concern at the continuing deterioration in the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur and urges all parties to exercise restraint immediately, avoiding retaliation and escalation. "The Security Council calls on all parties to attend and to engage fully and constructively in the talks, and, as a first step, to urgently agree and implement a cessation of hostilities to be the overseen by the United Nations and the African Union. The Council underlines its willingness to take action against any party that seeks to undermine the peace process, including by failing to respect such a cessation of hostilities or by impeding the talks, peacekeeping or humanitarian aid. The Council also recognizes that due process must take its course. "The Security Council underlines that an inclusive political settlement and the successful deployment of UNAMID are essential for re-establishing peace and stability in Darfur. The Council expresses its deep concern at the delays in deploying UNAMID. The Council calls, in this regard, for Member States to urgently make available the aviation and ground transport units still required for UNAMID and for all parties to facilitate and expedite UNAMID's effective deployment. "The Security Council requests the Secretary-General, in his regular 30-day reports to the Council on UNAMID, to also report on progress being made on, and any obstacles to, the political process and the situation on the ground." This statement will be issued as a document of Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2007/4l. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda. The meeting rose at 6.35 p.m. 07-56284