Darfur peace deal “big step forward” for Africa – EU

May 10, 2006 (VIENNA) — The signing of a peace agreement last week between Sudanese authorities and Darfur’s main rebel group was a big step forward for Darfur, Sudan and all of Africa, the Austrian EU presidency said.

“The signing of the Darfur peace agreement by the government of Sudan and the rebel movement SLM/A last Friday in Abuja is a big step forward for Darfur, Sudan and for the whole of the African continent,” Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Tuesday.

In a statement summarizing her remarks released Wednesday, Plassnik stressed the importance of all parties signing up to the agreement and called on two other rebel groups to “shoulder their responsibility.”

The agreement, signed Friday, was between the government and the main rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Army. Two smaller rebel groups refused to sign. The deal could help end a conflict that has killed about 200,000 people in three years and displaced some 2 million.

Plassnik said that EU support for the African Union would not diminish in the coming months, adding that the EU supported the convening of a donor conference to secure financing of the African Union peace mission in accordance with provisions of the peace agreement.

(ST/AP)