Western policy is in near despair over Darfur, and governments are turning to Russia and China to see if they can put pressure on the Sudanese government to accept a UN peacekeeping force. "There is a critical period now when the whole international community has to use its influence on Sudan," the British Minister for Africa Lord Triesman told reporters . The plains are quiet under the forlorn Sudan The people wilt like flowers planted beneath the sand From rape and murder and starvation Of unfed mouths Unfed hope Love Care Humanity Consumed by the Janjaweed Ravaged by the Baggara Descendents of grand tribes Lost And moving Down Roving the sands And hopeless sun Stopping only to Plant gardens Down Push the black seed Down Into the empty guts Of Darfur Down Again Darfur Down The hunters raid The rapists thieve The murderers slay Lacerating fatality Down Upon the child’s teeth Down Upon the mother’s
(The Weaver's Song)