Secretary-General warmly welcomes commitment by United States

to airlift critical equipment to darfur

 

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General conveyed to President George W. Bush his warm welcome of the most recent commitment by the United States to airlift to Darfur critical equipment required by the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).  The expedited arrival to Darfur of this material, which includes trucks and other essential equipment, will strengthen the ability of the United Nations to protect civilians and carry out other aspects of its mandate.  This initiative sets a constructive precedent for broad international support to expeditiously deploy UNAMID, and the Secretary-General calls upon other Member States to seriously consider undertaking similar efforts to expedite the full deployment of UNAMID.

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For information media • not an official record