UN welcomes resumption of Darfur peace talks early June

KHARTOUM, May 18, 2005 (Xinhua) — The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) expressed welcome on Wednesday to resumption of peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels slated for early June.

Spokesperson for the United Nations advance mission in Sudan (unamis) Radhia Achori.(AP).

The Sudan News Agency quoted UNMIS spokeswoman Radia Achouri as saying that the UN hopes the upcoming round of talks will be the final to reach a successful solution to the Darfur crisis.

She demanded that Darfur rebels go to the negotiating table with an open mind to help the talks come up with positive results.

An earlier six-party African mini-summit attended by leaders of Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Chad, Eritrea and Nigeria, which holds the current chairmanship of the African Union (AU), agreed that the next round of Darfur peace talks should be held in early June in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

On the current visit to Sudan by a UN delegation headed by special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Achouri said the delegation held several meetings with Sudanese officials including First Vice President Ali Othman Taha.

She pointed out that the meetings focused on security and humanitarian situations in Darfur as well as the Abuja peace talks and how to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in southern Sudan inked by the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The UN official said the delegation also held consultations with Sudanese officials on UN Security Council Resolution 1590 to authorize UNMIS to monitor the implementation of CPA.

She added that the UN delegation met with SPLM’s leader John Garang in his current headquarters in Rumbek in southern Sudan.

Clashes flared up in Darfur in February 2003 when local farmers took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglecting the barren area. Thousands of people have been killed and more displaced in the violence.

Rounds of peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels in Abuja have failed to yield fruits.