Darfur talks: plenary session postponed again for “a couple of days”

ABUJA, June 22 (AFP) — The resumption of a plenary session on Sudan’s Darfur crisis earlier postponed till Wednesday has again been put off for “a couple of days” to allow for more consultations among the parties, AU officials and delegates to the talks said.

Officials of the Sudanese government wait for resumption of talks with rebel leaders 10 June 2005, during a summit on Darfur crisis in Abuja. (AFP).

The AU special envoy to the Darfur talks, Tanzanian Salim Ahmed Salim, and AU mediators met the leaders of the three parties Wednesday evening and it was decided that more consultations were needed on the issue of Declaration of Principles (DoP), AU spokesman Nourredine Mezni told AFP.

“At the initiative of Salim, a committee of a limited number of people, drawn from the AU and the three parties (in the conflict) was set up to harmonise the various positions and views on the DoP. The committee has two days to do its work and report to AU by Friday,” Mezni said.

“So, the plenary session has been postponed for a couple of days till the committee turns in its report,” he said.

The plenary session has been blocked for more than 10 days over disagreement of parties on the DoP or the participation of Chad and Eritrea in the talks as mediators.