Chad commits to promoting Sudan dialogues on Darfur
TRIPOLI, Oct 17, 2004 (Xinhua) — Chad would continue its efforts to promote peace talks between the Sudanese government and the rebel groups on the Darfur issue, one Chadian delegate attending the African mini summit told Xinhua here Sunday.
The Chadian official, upon arrival at Tripoli’s el Mahary Hotel for the upcoming summit, said Chad was still committed to pushing forward the Sudan dialogues in order to solve the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Darfur region.
After all, it was Chad that initiated the peace talks and helped bring the Sudanese government and the two rebel groups to the negotiating table in April in Chadian capital of N’djamena, noted the official.
The Sudanese government and the two rebel groups, the SudanLiberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), struck a ceasefire deal in N’djamena in April under the mediation of Chadian President Idriss Deby.
However, the official expressed doubts that the upcoming summitin Libya will come up with a lasting solution to the crisis.
“There were many people killed, many people fleeing to Chad and millions displaced, so you can’t solve the problem at one snap of a finger,” the official said, adding more similar discussions are needed to solve the issue.
The official stressed that the crisis should be settled as quick as possible since the humanitarian crisis presented a heavy burden to the world, especially for Chad.
He noted that Chad has provided food, shelter and asylum to Darfuris seeking refugee in the neighboring country, which has presented a challenge to the Chadian government.
On the possible sanctions threatened in a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted last month, the Chadian official said that imposing sanctions was not a good way to solve the crisis since sanctions could only lead to more crisis.
Instead, the international community should keep pressuring theSudanese government as well as the rebel groups and urging them to settle disputes through dialogues, he said.
The official made the remarks before foreign ministers from Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Chad and Nigeria were to hold a meeting herelater Sunday in preparations for the summit, which brought together leaders from the five countries to discuss the Darfur issue.
The summit, held under the auspices of the African Union (AU), was aimed at finding ways in both humanitarian and political aspects to solve the Darfur crisis within the AU framework.
The UN Security Council adopted the US-drafted Resolution 1564 on Sept. 18, urging the Sudanese government to swiftly disarm militia, provide security to local people and restore stability to the region.
The resolution also called for an expanded AU monitoring missionon the ground and threatened to slap sanctions on Sudan’s vital oil industry if Khartoum would not fully cooperate.