To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made in advance of the meeting of the Tripartite Mechanism. (110715)

The Tripartite Mechanism between the African Union (AU), UN and Government of Sudan was established to take forward planning for UN support to the AU and a joint AU/UN force, as agreed at Addis Ababa on 16 November 2006.

Following considerable international pressure, including from the UK, President Bashir has now accepted UN support for the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and has allowed the first UN military personnel into Darfur. We have been pressing the UN and AU to implement the Addis Ababa package.

Our ambassador in Addis Ababa spoke to AU Peace and Security Commissioner Djinnet on 17 January to press on these points. On 18 January my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She pressed for progress in all areas, including in deploying UN support to AMIS and planning for the joint AU-UN force. She urged the Secretary-General to engage AU chairperson Konare directly, ahead of the AU summit at the end of January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to (a) the United Nations and (b) the Sudanese government on the implementation of a no-fly zone over the Darfur region. (110751)

We utterly condemn all aerial bombardment in Darfur by the government of Sudan. We continue to make clear to the government that this action violates UN Security Council Resolution 1591 and must stop immediately. The government of Sudan has committed to renewing its political dialogue with the rebels. If it becomes clear that Sudan is determined not to cooperate, we will consider, with Security Council partners and the UN Secretariat, all measures which may help improve the situation in Darfur. A no-fly zone would be one of the options available for the international community to consider.