Sudan downplays US envoy deadline on Darfur
Nov 21, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese government has downplayed the warning launched by the US envoy to Sudan who set a deadline of Jan. 1 for Khartoum to make progress on Darfur.
The official Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ali Al Sadiq, has described 20 November statement made by US’s president special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios on Darfur as inappropriate and would not serve to resolve Darfur crisis.
The spokesperson added that Natsios has to specify the plan to which he has referred when on visit to the Sudan and when he promised to come up with a plan for the resolution of the Darfur crisis for discussion with Khartoum.
“On January 1st, either we see change or we go to Plan B,” Natsios told reporters at the State Department. When pressed what he meant by this, Natsios replied: “I am not going to get into that … Plan B is a different approach to this.”
The Sudanese official added that If the envoy was referring to the Addis Ababa meeting and the outcome of that meeting then this matter was being followed up and reviewed by the Sudan and the concerned parties.
He further said that Natsios has ignored that this Addis Ababa meeting has reached agreements on most of the questions under review which included the political solution and the dialogue as well as the ceasefire and that the only difference was on two points which were the number of the force and the command of that force.
The spokesperson added that the delegation of the Sudan has in this regards requested to be given a delay for consultations with the government back home and that this was what has been going on now.
Al Sadiq said Natsios has also ignored in his statements the announcement made by the Sudan about accepting a UN presence within the African Union Mission in the form of experts and technicians as well as the technical assistance that the African Union needs.
“The challenge that faces Bush administration if it were genuinely serious about finding a solution to the problem of Darfur would be the provision of financial resource to the African Union”, Al Sadiq said.
He said it was regrettable that the US Administration would confine the problem of Darfur in its various dimensions to the question of mixed forces only and that this was a misinterpretation that would not help find the desired solution to the problem.
(ST)