(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-20 11:06

WASHINGTON -- The special US envoy on Sudan affairs said Wednesday that important progress has been made toward peace talks on Darfur and China plays a "constructive" role in facilitating such progress.

"I am very happy with the role the Chinese are playing," Andrew Natsios said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"It is a constructive role," Natsios said. "I think the Chinese are like a locomotive that is speeding up."

With mediation by China, he said, the Sudanese government has accepted a UN Security Council resolution adopted in July to authorize a hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force for the Darfur region.

He said the major obstacles to the peace talks now come from the rebel groups rather than the Sudanese government.

In a related development, China's Special Representative on African Affairs Liu Guijin said in Beijing on Tuesday that China will send a military liaison officer to Sudan's Darfur.

Liu, who has just wrapped up a seven-day visit to the United States and the United Nations, said China has informed the UN of its decision.

China also pledged to send a 315-member multi-functional engineering unit to Darfur in early October, which would be the first batch of UN-AU peacekeepers in place, and China will stick to its commitment, Liu said.

Liu reiterated China's constructive and unique role in finding a solution to the Darfur issue, saying China has provided much aid and help with regard to the reconstruction and development of Darfur.

"The US and UN both hold positive views on China's role in resolving the Darfur issue, and hope China will play a bigger role in this regard," said Liu.