4:3 Clinton with new US special envoy to Sudan

(1 Apr 2011)
1. Wide of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and new US Special Envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman walking to podium
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State:
"Good afternoon everyone. I am very pleased to be here this afternoon to introduce Ambassador Princeton Lyman as our new special envoy for Sudan."
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State:
"One of the most important tasks is to end the conflict in Darfur, and to alleviate and hopefully end the suffering of its people. I continue to call on all parties to come together immediately to reach a peaceful solution. To do this, all parties should join the peace process in Doha - the Liberation and Justice movement, the Justice and Equality movement, and the government of Sudan must engage in direct, face-to-face negotiations and reach a settlement that includes a ceasefire. Now is the time for a meaningful dialogue that produces concrete results."
4. Wide of Lyman standing at podium next to Clinton
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Princeton Lyman, US Special Envoy to Sudan:
"We only have 100 days before July ninth, when the South is to become fully independent. They have a lot of tough issues to negotiate. These are going to be hard negotiations. They're going to be tough. There is going to be fights about this and that and the other thing, but the parties are engaged. I leave Saturday for meetings in both Ethiopia and Sudan, where the parties are engaged on a whole range of these issues."
6. Wide of Lyman at podium
STORYLINE:
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the new US Special Envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, to the media on Thursday.
President Barack Obama chose Lyman, a retired ambassador to two African countries, to be his new special envoy to Sudan, at a time of continued instability in Darfur and as the African nation's southern regions prepare to become an independent country.
Since August 2010, Lyman has been a senior adviser to the State Department working on the negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan.
He has served as the US ambassador to both Nigeria and South Africa.
Lyman succeeds Scott Gration, who is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the US ambassador to Kenya.
Obama said Lyman will oversee US support for implementing a peace agreement in Sudan, ending the conflict in the Darfur region and the creation of an independent South Sudan.
The vast majority of ballots cast in a January referendum favoured separating Sudan in two, North and South.
Obama previously announced that the US will formally recognise Southern Sudan this summer.
"We only have 100 days before July 9, when the South is to become fully independent," Lyman told reporters at the State Department in Washington.
"They have a lot of tough issues to negotiate."
The 75-year-old diplomat said he would make his first trip as envoy on Saturday by heading to Ethiopia and Sudan for consultations with the North and South.
Clinton praised Khartoum's continuing efforts but said much work needed to be done in Darfur, where a lasting peace between rebel groups and the government has been elusive.
She said the Liberation and Justice Movement, Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese government "must engage in direct, face-to-face negotiations and reach a settlement that includes a cease-fire."
"Now is the time for meaningful dialogue that produces concrete results," she said.
Darfur has been in turmoil since 2003, when ethnic African rebels accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination took up arms against it.

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