President Jimmy Carter: Don't Forget About Darfur

PRESS RELEASE - New York, October 12, 2007 – In an exclusive interview with Voice of America (VOA), former President Jimmy Carter spoke with New York correspondent Kane Farabaugh about the continuing crisis in Burma, his recent trip to Darfur, and other issues including six-party talks with North Korea.

In the twenty-minute television interview, President Carter also spoke about his new book, Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope, which profiles the work of the Carter Center over the last 25 years.

The former president's recent trip to the Darfur region of Sudan made headlines when Sudanese security officials prevented him from speaking to local villagers. The resulting publicity, he said, brings attention to suffering in the war-torn country.

"It's very important for the world not to forget about Darfur, not to forget about the persecution of a displaced person."

On the issue of Burma, President Carter said he believes that more pressure from the international community is needed for change.

"If the world pressure can be brought on India and China to condemn what's going on in a very forceful but maybe … quiet way, that's the only avenue I see in the near future to bring about a change."

Excerpts from the interview with President Carter were broadcast on VOA television and radio throughout the world, including to Africa, India, China, and Burma. Stories and video segments featuring President Carter's comments about Burma and Darfur are available on the VOA website at www.VOANews.com/english/2007-10-10-voa52.cfm and www.VOANews.com/english/2007-10-10-voa66.cfm.

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.

For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.