President Barack Obama's special envoy for Sudan, Major General J. Scott Gration, will hold a series of talks in the next week with a range of countries including China in an attempt to forge a common approach to the crisis in Darfur.
A State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, announced in Washington, DC, on Friday that Gration would in the next week visit China, Britain, France and Doha in Qatar - the site of Sudanese peace talks.
China's perceived influence on the Sudanese government in Khartoum makes its involvement in the peace process in Darfur a critical issue.
In Doha, Gration would join a meeting of special envoys on Sudan from China, Russia, Britain, France, and the European Union, Kelly said.
Kelly added: "This is all in an effort to align positions on the Darfur peace process." The Doha talks are being held under the leadership of the African Union and the United Nations.
Kelly said that in London Gration would reconvene a group called the "Sudan troika," comprising Norway, Britain and the U.S.
In Paris, Gration would urge Sudan Liberation Army faction leader Abdul Wahid al Nur to join the Darfur peace process.
He is scheduled to leave for the trip on Saturday and to return to the U.S. on June 1.
