MD - Congressman Wynn Puts Pressure on Egypt to Mediate Crisis in Darfur

Congressman Wynn met with Ambassador Wafaa Baseem, Assistant Foreign Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Congressman Wynn pressed the Ambassador about Egypt’s role as a strategic force in the region and the nation’s potential to mitigate the genocide in Darfur. Wynn said, “The US needs cooperation from Egypt to press Sudan to accept a United Nations force or devise a viable compromise.” Egypt, which shares a border with Sudan and has a strategic interest in its neighbor’s stability, indicates it is committed to bringing peace to all Sudanese people. However, Egypt will not support a UN force against the will of the Sudanese government, which rejected efforts to replace the African Union’s 7,000 troops with 20,000 UN peacekeepers. Sudan claims a UN force is a threat to their sovereignty.