BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Othman Ismail discussed the Darfur issue and bilateral cooperation in a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon.

    Li and Ismail agreed to make concerted efforts for the promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation. They also pledged to further cooperation within the framework of China-Africa and China-Arabian cooperation forums.

    They also exchanged views on properly resolving the Darfur issue.

    Violence flared up in Sudan's western Darfur region in February2003. During the two-year clash, thousands of people have been killed and over one million driven to neighboring Chad or internally displaced. Enditem