Visiting mediation team discuss peace in South Darfur
November 29, 2010 (NYALA) — Darfur peace mediators visited on Monday one of South Darfur largest camp where they discussed their plans for peace in the restive region with the state authorities and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) there.
Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole and Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud during their second day in Darfur paid a visit to Kalama where they discussed with the residents of the camp their concerns and expectations. They also briefed them about the efforts exerted to reach a political settlement in the region.
Following the meeting with the residents, minister Al-Mahmoud said they presented their demands as he pledged with the joint mediator Bassole to consider what they said.
The IDPs demand to ensure their security and to disarm government militia to enable them to return to their villages. They also ask to compensate them individually and to expel the new settlers from their land.
The mediators visit Sudan these days before to make public a peace agreement they intend to propose to the Sudanese government and the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM). The two parties ended their direct talks and submitted the outstanding issues to the mediation.
Kalma is seen by the government as bastion for the rebel groups particularly Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur.
After clashes between the supporters of LJM that negotiates with the government and those of Al-Nur who is not involved in the peace process, South Darfur authorities decided to relocate the residents of Kalma into two camps in the near future.
Following a meeting with the mediation Abdel Karim Moussa, deputy South Darfur state governor said that the peace agreement provides to compensate individually people affected by the conflict, to ensure the right of displaced persons and refugees to return to their homeland and to give them a certain amount of money, as well as the recovery of any land taken from their owners.
The visiting delegation will fly tomorrow to El-Geneina the capital of West Darfur state where they will hold similar meetings with the state authorities and the IDPs over the peace process.
A delegation of the rebel JEM is still in Doha to continue discussions with the mediation over the resumption of peace talks with Khartoum. The rebel group suspended its participation last May accusing Khartoum of violating a truce signed in February. They also said the mediation favored the government by accepting to hold separate talks between it and another rebel group, LJM.
(ST)