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 ALJAILI, Sudan (AP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao told Sudan's leader on Friday he must give the United Nations a bigger role in trying to resolve the conflict in Darfur and also said China wanted to do more business with its key African ally, Sudan state media reported.
In what appeared to be China's bluntest message to Sudan on the Darfur crisis, Hu urged President Omar al-Bashir in a face-to-face meeting to boost the U.N.'s "constructive role in realizing peace in Darfur" along with the African Union, the official Sudan news agency SUNA reported.
China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil and is the largest investor in the country, giving it some leverage with al-Bashir's government. Sudan has defied a U.N. Security Council call for the underpowered African Union mission of 7,000 troops in the western region of Darfur to be taken over by a U.N. operation of 22,000 peacekeepers.
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