Mbeki meets Libya leader for talks on Darfur

February 13, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi discussed today Darfur crisis with the former South African President Thabo Mbeki who is the chairman of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) on Darfur.

Mbeki, accompanied by former Burundi President Pierre Buyoya, who is a committee member, is touring a number of African countries to get their support for a roadmap he proposed to resolve the seven year conflict in Darfur that was endorsed by the AU. He was in Kenya and Egypt last week for the same purpose.

Both men presented “a detailed report to the Libyan leader on the committee’s work to bring about peace in Darfur in the context of its keenness to consult Al- Gaddafi who sponsors peace and security in the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (Cen-Sad)”.

The Libyan media reported that Gaddafi stressed the committee’s role and thanked them for their efforts.

Among the major initiatives contained in the Darfur report is the establishment of a hybrid court that contains Sudanese and foreign judges to prosecute war crime suspects.

The hybrid court was a proposal drawn up by the panel primarily to defuse the row between Sudan and the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

The panel did not make a formal opinion on the indictment though it said that the ICC cannot handle all Darfur war crime perpetrators.

(ST)