Blair announces plans for special envoy

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday said he plans to appoint a special envoy to Sudan to assist in efforts to bring an end to the country's 19-year civil war. "I want to announce today that I intend to appoint a special envoy to work with others in the search for peace," Blair said in an address to the Nigerian parliament in the federal capital, Abuja, during the first leg of his West African tour. Blair is also due to visit Sierra Leone, Ghana and Senegal. Blair said that although the UK, along with other nations, continued to provide humanitarian aid to Sudan, this was "no substitute for a lasting peace". Sudan had been mired in conflict for all but 10 years since it gained independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956, he added. Blair's call for peace in Sudan is part of a general call to bring violent conflict throughout Africa to an end. Continuing conflict had held back the continent's development and also posed a threat to global security, he said. The United Sates government in September 2001 appointed former Senator John Danforth as special peace envoy to Sudan. Since then, Danforth has encouraged the government of Sudan to adopt four confidence-building measures to assist in the Sudanese peace process, including the negotiation of a six-month cease-fire in the Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan State, south-central Sudan. UK Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short visited Sudan in January - the first visit to the country by a UK cabinet minister in 10 years. "We must make a greater effort to find a just and lasting peace, and to help build efficient and democratic government in Sudan, which is a highly indebted poor country and could qualify for substantial debt relief if it could be moved toward peace and reform," she said at the time of her visit. The UK government supported the peace process being pursued under the aegis of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and was involved in the setting up of the IGAD secretariat in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in 2000 and 2001, the UK Department for International Development said Blair also highlighted the need for a lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying that both it and Sudan had natural resources which could be used to promote development and reduce poverty. "Britain will show the necessary political commitment and tangible support. In June, I will call upon the G-8 [group of developed states] to redouble its efforts to bring peace to these two conflicts," Blair said. "I believe there is now a chance for peace."