Darfur’s Nur holds rare joint meeting with Qatari official & mediator

July 8, 2010 (PARIS) — The Qatari state minister for foreign affairs and the United Nations – African Union joint chief mediator today agreed with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader to continue discussions on ways that would allow the latter to join the Doha peace process.

Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmood and Dijibril Bassole met on Thursday with Abdel Wahid Al-Nur in Paris to exchange ideas about the peace process currently underway in Doha, according to a joint press statement released after the meeting.

“During the meeting, Mr. Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nur expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the State of Qatar and the Joint African Union-United Nations Chief Mediator, Mr. Dijibril Bassole to bring peace in Darfur,” read the statement.

This first meeting of its kind comes two years after the appointment of Bassole and the choice of Qatar as venue for Darfur peace talks after the failure of Libya to convene rebels in October 2007.

Since his refusal to sign Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in the Nigerian capital over four years ago, Al-Nur refused to take part in any peace process saying Khartoum has to provide security to the civilians in Darfur and organize their safe return to their homeland before to join the negotiating table.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune, Al-Nur said that the first official meeting with the mediation tackled the issue of civilian protection in Darfur and the return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees to their villages.

“We had a very positive meeting with the Minister Al-Mahmood and Mr. Bassole during which we reiterated our determination to reach a just and lasting peace in Darfur because peace remains our ultimate goal, but also we stressed upon the issue of security for civilians which is our main concern,” Al-Nur said.

“There was a strong convergence of views, and we agreed to pursue future meetings to seek ways to join the peace process in Doha,” further said the rebel leader stressing “the security of civilians remains a red line on which he would not compromise”.

For his part, the Joint Chief Mediator hailed the move saying this meeting represents a good boost to the ongoing efforts to reach an all-inclusive peace in Doha.

He also stressed that they would request the Sudanese government to improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur saying that Al-Nur had emphasized the need to allow the aid groups to reach the affected population in Jebel Marra.

France, where the rebel leader is based, and other members of the international community attempted in vain to persuade Nur to join Doha talks. Bassole and Nur nonetheless continued to meet during the past years and succeeded to build good relationship.

Yesterday in Khartoum, Presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani reaffirmed before the Sudanese lawmakers the commitment of his government to the Doha peace process stressing that the Qatari sponsored negotiations have strongl regional and international support.

There has been reports in the media that Libya and rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) want to move the talks to Tripoli, something which Khartoum vehemently rejects.

Darfur’s most militarily powerful rebel force, JEM suspended its participation in the peace talks since May 2, saying it wants the reform of the peace process in a way to widen the mandate of the joint mediator and requested guarantees of the neutrality of the host country, Qatar, accused of favoring the Sudanese government.

In his briefing to the National Assembly on Wednesday Al-Attabani said the best way to go forward is to “reaffirm the commitment to the ongoing initiative and not expose it to any test that may weaken it”. He further added that there needs to be new ways to rejuvenate the Doha process.

According to the Sudanese official this new approach should aim at repositioning the “center of gravity of the talks” to inside the country by empowering the elected institutions and the civil society in Darfur.

He said that the peace process should not be limited to the negotiations with the rebel groups but also resolve the issues of displaced civilians, conducting tribal reconciliation, and achieving justice and development in the war affected region.

Bassole and Al-Nur are expected to conduct a series of consultative meetings in the upcoming to continue discussions on making the peace talks all inclusive.

(ST)