27 May LA Times - U.N. Presses for Peace in Darfur by Maggie Farley.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has put his personal diplomatic clout on the line to end the bloodshed in Darfur, demanding a cease-fire and fresh peace talks in a letter to Sudan's president, U.S. and Sudanese diplomats said Saturday.

Ban has asked the Security Council to hold off on sanctions to give President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir time to respond to an all-out diplomatic drive outlined for the first time in the confidential letter, which was delivered Friday.

The letter is also meant to signal a last chance for Bashir to stop attacks by Arab militias widely believed to be supported by the government. If Sudan continues to stall or backtrack on agreements, diplomats here say, even its strongest allies in the Security Council will have little excuse to block strong sanctions...