The United Nations will convene high-level consultations on solving the Darfur crisis, with African Union (AU) leader Alpha Omar Konare scheduled to attend this month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Monday after returning from a trip to the Middle East. I am going to engage in extensive, in-depth consultation with the African Union to make further progress on this matter of Khartoum supporting a peacekeeping force , based upon the report of the technical expert-level peoples consultation in Addis Ababa, Ban told reporters. Ban also announced that he would be sending experts to the region early next week to assess Darfur, and he will brief the council himself on April 5th. Describing his trip to the Middle East, Ban said, I was encouraged by the very active support and determined will of Arab leaders, and I was able to see the Arab leaders engaging on many important regional issues, particularly on the Darfur issue. Regarding the possible imposition of sanctions on Sudan, Ban told reporters that it was a matter to be decided by the U.N. Security Council. My position at this time is that, before we talk about sanctions, let me have some more political space to deal with this dialogue with them, he said.
