Darfur peace talks begin discussions on wealth sharing
AFRICAN UNION
Oct 18, 2005 (ABUJA) — The AU Special Envoy for the Darfur Talks and Chief Mediator, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, formally opened today, Tuesday, 18 October 2005, the first meeting of the Commission on Wealth Sharing, which has Mr. Ablassé Ouedraogo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso and Adviser to the President of the African Development Bank, as Coordinator. The meeting, which was attended by all the Sudanese Parties, the Chadian Co-Mediation, the Facilitators and the International Partners, was the result of a series of informal consultations the Chief Mediator and the Coordinator held with the Parties.
In his remarks, Dr. Salim, while paying tribute to the Coordinator, the Experts and the Sudanese Parties for the result they have achieved with the convening of the meeting, appealed to the Parties to continue to cooperate with the Mediation in order to arrive at a Comprehensive Peace Agreement. “The sooner we are able to come to an Agreement, the more we create conditions of relief for the people of Darfur,” he said.
The opening session of the Commission on Wealth Sharing will be followed by consultations the Coordinator will carry out with the Parties with the aim of agreeing on an Agenda to be discussed during the next Round of the Talks.
As for the Commission on Power Sharing, the Parties are still discussing the items on the Agenda they adopted during their first meeting. Already, they have reached an agreement on two items, namely: Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as well as Criteria and Guidelines for Power Sharing, while discussions are still underway on General Principles and Federal System at All Levels of Governance and their Competences.
With regard to the Commission on Security Arrangements, General Christ Garuba, who is the Coordinator, is conducting informal consultations with the Parties with a view to agreeing on an Agenda to be discussed during the next Round.
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