Ceasefire violation in Darfur worries African Union

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, April 24, 2004 (PANA) — The African Union (AU) has expressed concern over the violation of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement in Sudan’s Darfur Region as the continental body was preparing to monitor its implementation.

AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare has called on the opposing sides in the Darfur conflict to ensure the speedy deployment of the observer team in the area.

Konare said in a statement that the AU remains greatly concerned over the prevailing humanitarian situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan, and the violations of the agreement that was signed 8 April 2004 in N’djamena, Chad by the Sudanese parties.

At its fifth session on 13 April 2004, the AU Peace and Security Council requested the Chairperson to dispatch a reconnaissance mission to Darfur to ensure the early setting up and deployment of the Ceasefire Commission established by the agreement.

“It should be recalled that the African Union was part of the mediation team that facilitated the negotiations between the Sudanese parties in N’djamena,” he said.

In a bid to operationalise the Ceasefire Commission, the AU Commission convened a technical meeting 19-20 April in Addis Ababa to discuss modalities for dispatching a reconnaissance to Darfur to pave the way for the deployment of African observers.

Members of the international community that were involved in the N’djamena talks — the United Nations, the European Union and the United States — also participated in the meeting.

The team of African Observers to be sent to Darfur is drawn from Chad, Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria, Ghana, Namibia and Mozambique.

The AU Commission said arrangements discussed at the Addis Ababa meeting were expected to be finalised after consultations with the Sudanese parties in N’djamena.

“The African Union strongly urges all the parties to extend maximum cooperation to the efforts aimed at ensuring the speedy deployment of the observers and the establishment of the Commission set up under the [Humanitarian Ceasefire] Agreement,” Konare emphasised.

Konare was hopeful that the current talks in N’djamena, aimed at a global and comprehensive resolution of the conflict, would be concluded speedily.

He encouraged the parties at the talks “to persevere and to continue with the negotiations in a spirit of flexibility and compromise,” to reach a comprehensive agreement that would “alleviate the tremendous suffering of the affected people in Darfur.”