Brown and Sarkozy pledge to visit Darfur on peace mission

Gordon Brown and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said yesterday they were ready to travel together to Darfur to help end the bloodshed and famine that has claimed 200,000 lives.

After a Franco-British mini-summit in Paris, the Prime Minister and the President announced a new diplomatic and economic initiative to try to halt the Sudanese civil war. If the initiative succeeded, they said they would go to Darfur,the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and to neighbouring Chad to ensure the "peace process is moving forward".

This would be a historic first. French and British leaders have never before travelled together to help resolve a foreign conflict.

Mr Brown and M. Sarkozy, meeting for the first time as leaders, also announced a joint initiative to introduce "eco-friendly" taxes in Europe. The finance ministers of the two countries will present proposals to Brussels for lower VAT rates on products which are safer for the environment, from cars to fridges.

After a 90-minute meeting at the Elysée Palace, M. Sarkozy and Mr Brown put on a display of warmth and friendship. Each stressed the "brilliance" of the other. They said the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, would go to the United Nations to table a joint resolution proposing a framework to end the Darfur conflict.

Under the Franco-British plan, peacekeepers from the UN and the African Union would police a ceasefire and the gradual resettlement of about 2,000,000 refugees. A programme of economic regeneration, funded largely by the West, would be introduced if the Sudanese government co-operated. However, the two leaders warned that tougher sanctions would be imposed if Khartoum failed to act.

Mr Brown said Darfur was "one of the great, humanitarian disasters of our generation". "It's happening even as we speak. It's incumbent on the whole world to act," he said. "We will work for an immediate ceasefire on the ground. We will be prepared to contribute substantial sums in economic support as soon as a ceasefire makes it possible. We will be strong in saying, unless action is taken, we will be prepared to consider a toughening up of sanctions."

Asked why the Franco-British initiative should succeed when so many others had failed, M. Sarkozy said there was no guarantee of success, but that did not mean that the world should do nothing. "What do you want us to do? Watch people dying on the television and say, 'oh, what a pity'? No," he said.