UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Ambassador John Danforth of the United States says there has been no progress in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
A United Nations briefing Tuesday said, "In Darfur, chaos is looming as order is collapsing," and an apparently exasperated Danforth told reporters: "We're getting nowhere with respect to Darfur. We've tried everything. We've tried the carrot approach. We've tried the stick approach. And we're getting nowhere."
He said no one side was to blame, but all were guilty -- the government, militias, and rebels.
"They sign agreements, which apparently mean nothing at all. And this remains a very serious situation," Washington's ambassador said. "Now the question is" Where do we go from here? First of all, we need more outside people in Darfur.'
Danforth said the first step should be for the African Union, which only has about 800 or 900 troops in Darfur, to meet its commitment of more than 3,000 troops. He also welcomed the suggestion of sending in international police officers. But there was still a question of from where they would come.
Danforth also served notice on Khartoum there will be no foreign aid until there is peace in the troubled region.
