Libya hosts mini-summit on Darfur on Wednesday-JANA

Jan 3, 2005 (TRIPOLI) — Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will host a mini-summit on the Darfur conflict in Tripoli on Wednesday, Libya’s deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

But the minister, Hassouna Chaouch, did not say which African leaders would attend and what exact issues the gathering would focus on.

“The mini-summit will take place at the scheduled date on Jan. 4 in Tripoli as it was decided by the African Union’s current chairman, the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo,” Chaouch said, according to the official news agency Jana.

The AU is involved in efforts to bring peace to Sudan’s western Darfur region where tens of thousands of people have been killed in fighting between Sudanese forces and militias and Sudanese rebels since early 2003.

The Darfur conflict is being complicated by a crisis between neighbouring Sudan and Chad, whose President Idriss Deby wants the AU to condemn Sudan for what he says is its support for rebels seeking to overthrow him.

Gaddafi enjoys good relations with Deby and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al Bashir.

Jana did not say if Deby and Bashir would attend the gathering or which other leaders would be there apart from Gaddafi and Obasanjo.

(Reuters)