Government prefers political solution to Darfur problem, Sudan’s FM says

KHARTOUM, Jan 20 (AFP) — Sudan’s foreign minister said Monday his government is committed to finding a political settlement to the problem of Darfur region, even though it is now forced to resort to the military option.

“The government remains committed to reaching a political solution to the problem of Darfur, but it is now forced to pursue security and military measures,” Mustafa Ismail told reporters.

He said the solution lies in the Abeche agreement between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) reached in the eastern Chadian town last September.

Ismail said Interior Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein and Assistant President Mubarak al-Fadil al-Mahdi would leave for Libya Tuesday on the first leg of a tour of several African and Arab countries to brief heads of state on the Darfur conflict and on the progress in the Naivasha peace talks as well.

Ismail said his government has not yet received any official word on reactivation of good offices by Chadian President Idriss Debe on the Darfur conflict.

Debe and a Sudanese delegation led by Energy and Mining Minister Awad Ahmed al-Jaz are now visiting France, Ismail said, implying the two sides might meet there.