UN’s Annan to attend inauguration of Sudan’s national unity govt
UNITED NATIONS, July 6 (AFP) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will travel to Khartoum later this week to attend the inauguration of Sudan’s national unity government formed as part of a peace deal with former southern rebels, his spokesman said here Wednesday.
Annan will attend the Khartoum ceremony Saturday after attending the summit of the world’s most powerful leaders in the Scottish golf resort of Gleneagles, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Former southern Sudan rebel leader John Garang, head of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM), is to arrive Friday on his first Khartoum visit in more than 22 years to take up his post as first vice president in the national unity government, in line with a key January peace accord with the Sudanese government.
The SPLM signed the accord with the government on January 9 ending more than two decades of north-south conflict that left an estimated two million people dead and four million displaced.
In a related development, Annan welcomed Tuesday’s signing by the Sudanese government and rebel groups from the Darfur region in Abuja, Nigeria of a declaration of principles which will form the basis for future political dialogue at their African Union (AU)-sponsored peace talks.
“The Declaration signals the parties’ intention to bring to an end the conflict in Darfur,” Annan said through his spokesman.
He also urged the Sudanese parties “to move forward decisively and promptly when they restart talks on 24 August and to conclude a lasting political settlement to bring an end to the enormous suffering of the people of Darfur.”
Under the Abuja deal, the Arab-led Khartoum regime agreed to guarantee traditional tribal ownership rights over land in Darfur and allow the black African region autonomy under a reformed federal constitution.
Two Darfur rebel groups launched an insurrection in February 2003 to protest what they see as the marginalisation of their impoverished and arid territory and its black African tribes by the mainly-Arab government in Khartoum.
More than 180,000 civilians have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes during fighting in the western Sudanese region, creating what UN agencies have dubbed the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster”.
Dujarric meanwhile said Annan’s visit came at a time of funding shortfalls for humanitarian programs in Sudan.
“As of the end of June, of the required 1.3 billion dollars, only 643 million had been received,” the spokesman added. “This means that critically important programmes cannot be carried out in full or in some cases at all. The vast majority of pledges made by the donors have yet to be converted into cash and the secretary-general has urged donors not to wait too long to provide the Sudanese people with the support they deserve.”