Libyan, Sudanese leaders discuss Chad, Darfur crisis
Jan 18, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir paid one day visit to Tripoli where he met the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi to discuss the ongoing AU Summit preparation, the persistent tension between Chad and the Sudan, and Darfur crisis.
Sudanese foreign minister, Lam Akol, said in a press statement to the official SUNA, that the two leaders agreed to work together to improve and develop Chad-Sudan relations. Akol further said a trilateral meeting will be held soon without elaborating.
The forthcoming AU summit will discuss conflicts between Chad and Sudan in the Darfur region, AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said last week.
Chad has accused neighboring Sudan of sheltering and backing Chadian rebels in its violent Darfur region and the dispute is adding to insecurity in the area.
The president’s advisor, Majzoub al-Khalifah, said that the two president’s stressed the role of the AU in solving the Darfur issue and the major role the AU peace-keeping forces play to safe-guard peace.
Un Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, told the UN Security Council Friday that the international community had failed to address the situation in Darfur and needed to dispatch a more robust force.
Sudan rejected the swap of AU peacekeeper by an UN force. Instead, Sudan has proposed the formation of a tripartite force including its own troops, rebel movements and the African Union (AU) to maintain peace in Darfur.
The preparations and the arrangements being made for the sixth ordinary session of the African Union Assembly to be held in Khartoum 23-24 January were also reviewed by Gadahfi and al-Bashir during this visit.
It was not clear whether the question of the AU presidency was discussed, but Sudan needs Libya’s leverage over the Sahel and Saharan States, (COMESSA) to neutralize Chad. According to Reuters, Bashir appeared to have secured the support of South African President Thabo Mbeki, a key player in the AU’s Peace and Security Council.
(ST)