Sudan to unite Darfur peace initiatives
Dec 31, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The National Commission for the Unity of the National Rank has revealed that it plans to work with the relevant authorities to unite the various peace initiatives in Darfur. This is aimed at making the non-signatories rebel groups join the peace process.
The official spokesman of the commission, Maj-Gen Osman Abdallah Mohamed, pointed out in an interview with Sudanese radio that all arrangements have been finalized to unite all the peace initiatives after the Eid al-Adha celebrations.
He said the unification of the initiatives will lead to the specification of the date for the first meeting, which represents a breakthrough in efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis.
The States Council, the Senate, launched that week an initiative to resolve Darfur crisis, saying it has the ability to realize peace in the troubled Darfur.
The National Commission for the Unity of National Ranks, a body mainly from pro-ruling party members, tries since more than a month to convince the different political forces to support the government of the national unity and find a “Sudanese solution to Darfur crisis”.
But the group has failed to convince or to meet the holdout groups who consider this body as an emanation from the Islamist ruling party.
Also there is an initiative led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani leader of the pro Egyptian Democratic Unionist Party. Al-Merghani was the leader of a Sudanese opposition coalition and the allied to the Darfur SLM but his stand against the deployment of UN troops in Darfur vulnerablized his impact on the Darfur groups.
All these efforts are rejected by the rebel groups because they doubt the capacity of internal political forces to guarantee a lasting peace in Darfur, but they particularly do not trust the credibility of the ruling NCP.
Analysts say Sudanese government has used these initiatives to divert the international community and the public opinion inside the country. But since the 16 November 2006 meeting in Addis Ababa, Khartoum accepted that talks with Darfur rebels should be sponsored by the AU and the UN.
(ST)