Annan says Darfur peace deal possible by year-end
By Helen Nyambura
DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 20 (Reuters) – A quick peace deal for Sudan’s western Darfur region may be possible after a separate agreement was reached between Khartoum and southern Sudanese rebels, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said.
Sudan’s government and southern rebels on Friday committed themselves to ending Africa’s longest civil war by December 31, signing a pledge in front of 15 U.N. Security Council ambassadors in Nairobi, not far from the Kenyan resort of Naivasha where they held negotiations.
Annan, speaking at a Tanzania summit on Africa’s troubled Great Lakes region on Saturday, said he met Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir in Dar es Salaam and been assured Khartoum now hopes to speed the pace of talks on Darfur to finish them by the end of the year.
“They wanted to inform me that they wanted to finish the Darfur negotiations perhaps even before Naivasha,” Annan said.
“The Naivasha agreement, both sides agree, can be a basis for a settlement in Darfur.”
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chair of the 53-member African Union which has been largely stymied in its efforts to halt the violence in Darfur, said he also believed the Darfur talks can be accelerated.
“With a bit of luck, and with the spirit that has been generated … we might even be able and conclude with Darfur at the same time we will conclude in south Sudan. It’s not impossible,” Obasanjo told the news conference.
Sudan faces conflict on many fronts – mainly in the south where rebels have been fighting the government since 1983. But violence has also erupted in the west in Darfur, triggering what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
More than 1.5 million people in Darfur, mainly African villagers, have been left homeless by rampaging Arab militia and thousands have been killed. Khartoum has denied backing the Janjaweed militia, but has been slow to respond to the humanitarian crisis.
The U.N. Security Council has held back from threatening sanctions against Sudan over the issue for fear of provoking Khartoum and making matters worse.
This month Sudan bowed to international pressure and signed agreements on security and humanitarian issues with the rebels, and AU mediators say talks are due to resume about December 10 in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Annan said he expected Sudan’s government to be motivated by hopes for a “peace dividend”, noting the United Nations, the World Bank and others have promised to work on a reconstruction plan for the country probably worth hundreds of millions of dollars is peace is achieved.