Today's Date:

Following the Sudanese forces' operations in Darfur over the past few days, France underlines the risks of regional destabilization and signals her extreme concern at the humanitarian consequences of the attacks on the civilian population.

She calls for the immediate cessation of military operations in the region and again stresses the necessity of taking measures to protect civilians. In particular, she asks the Sudanese authorities immediately to ensure freedom of access for humanitarian workers.

This situation makes it even more urgent to deploy UNAMID in Darfur and EUFOR in east Chad and northeast Central African Republic with a view to helping protect civilians in accordance with the mandates entrusted to these two operations by the United Nations Security Council./.