AU chief mediator ends visit to Darfur region

Text of report in English by Sudanese news agency Suna website, BBC Monitoring Middle East.

Sep 1, 2005 (Khartoum) — The African Union chief mediator to the Abuja peace talks, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, returned to Khartoum from Darfur, where he spent two days.

During the visit he met with official and public leaderships as well as the Darfur rebels leadership within the framework of the preparations under way for the convening of the coming round of talks set to take place in the Nigerian capital of Abuja mid of next month.

The official spokesperson for the African Union Mission in Khartoum, Nouredine Mezni told said in a statement to the Sudan News Agency. He said Dr Salim’s tours covered each of Al-Fashir and Nyala where he visited Internally Displaced Persons camps and that he also met with leadership of the Sudan Liberation Army.