UN envoy says Darfur talks may resume 28 November
Nov 22, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Top UN envoy in Sudan Jan Pronk on Tuesday expected a new round of peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels to be held on Nov. 28.
Pronk called on the Darfur conflicting sides at a press conference held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to work toward a sooth start of the peace talks and to commit to the time they set in the previous round of talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
The talks, originally to be held on Tuesday, were postponed due to disagreement among rebels.
Pronk said the international community has sent a clear signal to all Darfur conflicting sides to go to Abuja to seek peace in Darfur by the end of this year.
The UN official demanded the two rivaling leaders of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), Minni Arkoi Minawi and Abbel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, to attend the next round of peace talks with a unified position.
“If they both attend the Abuja talks, we will be able to talk to them,” said Pronk. “I am not concerned with the names. What concerns us is the signature of agreements that end the crisis.”
He announced that he would pay a visit to Muhageria in the southern Darfur state and al-Gineina, capital of the western Darfur state, on Wednesday.
The UN official will meet during his tour in Muhageria with Minawi, the recently elected leader of the SLM, to discuss the arrangements for the upcoming round of talks in order to work out an effective plan to make the talks a success.
Pronk said his visit to al-Gineina, at an invitation of Governor of the western Darfur state al-Haj Atta al-Mannan, will focus on the current security situation in the state.
Series of attacks and banditry have plagued the western Darfur state, which have seriously hampered relief transportation, according to Pronk.
The SLM, one of the two major rebel groups in Darfur, elected Minawi as new leader earlier this month, replacing al-Nur, who boycotted the election conference and slammed it as “illegal”.
The disputed election underlined the split of the group, which led to the failure of the previous round of peace talks.
Rebels took up arms in Sudan’s arid Darfur region in February 2003, accusing the government of negligence. Many people have been killed in the conflict and more displaced.
Rounds of peace talks under the auspices of the African Union have so far failed to strike a deal.
(Xinhua)