Comprehensive peace needed in Darfur

All parties to the conflict in Darfur are called on to gather at the negotiating table if there's to be any hope for peace, a U.N. peacekeeping official said. Three members of the African Union-U.N. Hybrid Operation in Darfur were killed at the Zam Zam Camp for the internally displaced in an overnight ambush earlier this month. Six other peacekeepers were injured and one assailant was killed in the attack. Herve Ladsous, U.N. under secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, told the U.N. Security Council that inclusive dialogue was the best way to secure peace in Darfur. "I call on those parties who have not yet done so to cease hostilities and enter into peace negotiations immediately and without preconditions," he said in a statement. The Sudanese government and members of the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur in July. Ladsous noted that LJM leader Tijani al-Seisi was established as president of Darfur's regional authority this week, which he said opened the door for more settlements under the Doha framework. Rebel groups have taken up arms against the Sudanese government after initially joining earlier peace initiatives, however. More than 30 members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur have been killed since it took over from an African Union force in 2008. Ladsous condemned many of the attacks as "cowardly."