AU organizes workshop for Darfur talks negotiators

Sept 18, 2005 (ABUJA) — The first workshop of the sixth session of peace talks between the Sudanese government and the armed movements in Darfur started here Sunday on power sharing, under the auspices of the African Union (AU).

The workshop, which was chaired by AU special representative in Sudan Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibi, was opened by AU chief mediator Salem Ahmed Salem.

AU’s Salim said in his speech before the workshop that the view points which would be presented for discussions aimed at paving way for the negotiations based on other experiences.

He called on the two parties to abide by their commitments to the AU. Salem pointed out to the necessity of obtaining experiences which would help the negotiators to benefit from the experiences of others.

The AU special representative in Sudan, on his part, said that the sixth session of negotiations is very important for the mediators who expressed their readiness to end the conflict in Darfur.

A professor of international law and political science of Cambridge University in Britain presented a lecture on the international experiences on the issue of power sharing.

(ST)