Paul: How much longer for the US going to wait?
Lauren: The US interest in Sudan is humanitarian. We are not there for oil, regime change or anything

John: The ambassador has said something that I totally agree with. He said we should stop threats of sanctions, yes we should stop threats and impose the sanctions. It is time for action.
- We have the opportunity to end this conflict: We have China becoming sensitive to the conflict (China sent a special envoy), France: France has a leverage and now it has a new president. The third axis is the US. At this point we need to act, speeches about the genocide should be banned.
- We need to act within the framework of the UN (security council)

Susan: we just heard the ambassador that the government will stop attacking the rebels if they rebels sit down and talk. Then, what is the US doing to make this happen?
Lauren: We have been working to bring these rebels together. We would like to see the AU and the UN to lead the process.

Ambassador: Solutions wont be found in the streets of Paris or Washington. Rebels need to be told that they should talk to the government.
- Those who are talking about China are targeting China-Africa relations

Paul to Mia: What are we doing about the Olympics?
Mia: We know that China has to be scrutinized. China should use it leverage to bring parties to the table.
- There is responsible leadership within the rebel movement

Ambassador: Sudan is the member of the UN since 1956. We are part of the UN. WE agreed to the Ethiopian agreement, the failure is caused by the UN and not the government in Sudan.
Paul: let me interrupt

Ndesanjo: question from Sudanese Thinkers about who is supporting the rebels.
John: This is divide and conquer. It is the policy of Sudam. First largest provider of assistance is Sudan, second largest is Chad. Chadian government believes that Sudan want to topple the goverment in Sudan. Third, Eritrea, they are trying to buy their way.
Ambassador: One of the problems in that part of Africa, rebels are plenty. Lots of wars in the region.
Susan: who do you think are arming the rebels?
Ambassador: I dont want to….
PaulL be specific ambassador
Ambassador: we are not going to say…
Paul: you are saying foreign governments?
Ambassador: no, i am saying there are lots of weapons because of legacy of war in the region

Audience: Does US lack creativity and ineffective
Lauren: I think we are doing a lot to push China. We have our special envoy who has made trips to China to push China. Sudan has clearly being on the agenda. Our assistant secretary for Africa has been working with China. We are pushing China to make humanitarian assistance

Member of the audience: There is a need for confidence building measure before the rebels can sit
What could be done to help aid workers to speak freely
Ambassador: Doubt is not a good justification for not going to the negotiation table. Go and confirm your doubts. The South Sudan government is credible, it can lead the talk. About the venue, this is not the problem. It can be in Juba, Stockholm…

Paul to Lauren: What does the US do to bring about negotiation?
Lauren: The international community has to work hard to make sure that the agenda is the right one
John: Let the AU lead the process. We need a clear idea of who has the leverage. We need a full-time envoy. Someone has to working calling White House…
- there is a deficit of creativity within the international community
- the Bush administration does not seem to understand how to run a peace process

Mia: Aid workers cannot speak freely. No aid worker in Darfur is free. They dont feel free to speak.
Ambassador: There is improvement in the condition of aid worker.
Mia: life is deteriorating
Ambassador: We know that you cannot win militarily. We are for peace. We need full support of the international community to bring the rebels to the table. Dont talk hypothetically without bringing them to the table.

Member of the audience: I am curious about the sanctions. What else can it do? We need international sanctions, such as arms embargo
Ambassador: We fully support AU peacekeepers with the full support of the UN
John: Since 2003, it is the policy of the government of Sudan to destroy the rebels and the community that support them. They are playing this game until they finish them, they dont want witnesses. Until there is a cost, these attrocities will continue. They will continue to bomb civilians calling them military targets. What is most urgent is multilateral sanctions against most senior people in the regime who are responsible for orchestrating the killings. These people are war criminals. Stop making speeches. We dont even have to tell them. It will be messy for a while but they will ultimately stop.
Ambassador: I have to respond. this is a recipe for disaster
John: disaster for the regime
Ambassador: Sometimes there is a failed state, but this is a failed organization (the International Crisis Group [John is the senior advisor to the organization]). I respectfully disagree with his analysis.
Mia: I dont think anyone is disputing. I think the ambassador is trying to find his way out.
Ambassador: it is not genocide. It is not systematic killing. We dont want our country our county to be in war wrongly diagnosed by countries far away.

Paul: Lauren, let me bring you here…
Lauren: I can clearly say that the conflict is not caused by climate change
Susan: The Sudan government needs protection from rebels. The question is how can we listen the government of Sudan?
John:

Ndesanjo: The UN has called this conflict one of the worst in human history, the US has called it genocide, aid workers on the ground are blogging about the crisis, but you are telling us a different story…as a global citizen, who do I believe?
Ambassador: we dont claim to have …..like the international group.
It is not about sending peacekeepers, if that is the solution send them to Gaza, Palestine.
This issues is blown out of proportion.
Mia: Allow peacekeepers
Ambassador: That is why they are called peacekeepers, you must have peace for them to keep it
Susan: I dont want to talk about how many people. But there human suffering is huge
Lauren: The UN can act faster, but it all come back to Sudan because of government bureaucracy.
Ambassador: if it bureaucracy, it is not the policy of the government. The UN is to blame not the Sudan government.
Mia: is it true that rebels were bombed when they were meeting for peace talks?
Ambassador: it is not true.

Member of audience: asks about tying the conflict to Darfur conflict
Ambassador: The issue of climate change in political conflicts in Africa is old (gives example of the fall of Siyad Barre of Somalia)

Susan: the question is, is it not the responsible of the government of Sudan to protect its citizens

John: The government of Sudan is clearly supporting Janjaweed, who are arabs to kill Africans.
Ambassador: the talk about the conflict being about arabs and africans is not true. First, it was Muslim North against Christian South, and now the language is that of ethnicity

Question from high school student: The government keeps sending conflicting messages. You said that you want rebels to talk, what are you doing to make it happen?
Ambassador: there are three issues: 1. compensation 2. representation 3.
Now they ceiling of their demands is increasing. We are ready to talk to them anytime. We wanty peace, help us make peace.

Paul : best case scenario by the end of the year:
Mia: would like to see Janjaweed stopped
Lauren: successfull peace process
John: unified diplomatic iniatiative,
Susan: All I want is for the people who are suffering to be heard. I want a woman whom I met, she was 80 yrs old, whose village I saw burned to the ground. I went to see her in the hospital. She was burnt while saving her husband from fire. Her husband die. I want those children who were shot by Janjaweed…I want their voices to be heard. We can debate, but it has taken so much time. Discussion to find peace with rebels is key. But those people are important to me.
Ambassador: what we want is peace.The situation cannot be improved by sanctions, threats, militarization…
We need to abide by Addis Ababa agreement. We want to give peace a priority.

Paul Holmes closes the debate.
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