To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received from the British ambassador to the United Nations following the Security Council briefing by the African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare. (132586)

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary chaired an informal private meeting, bringing together all members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) with the UN Secretary-General and African Union (AU) chairperson on 16 April.

Following the meeting the UK, as UNSC president, issued a press statement on behalf of the council, welcoming the Government of Sudan’s acceptance of the heavy support package to the AU mission in Sudan. It also called on the Government of Sudan to facilitate the immediate deployment of the peacekeeping package, as agreed at the Addis Ababa and Abuja summits last November. It was agreed that the UNSC president would write to the UN Secretary-General to request funding for the package from the General Assembly. The UNSC members also called for an immediate ceasefire; a renewed political process; and an improvement in the humanitarian situation.