Sudan should not host AU summit in January 2006
Dec 21, 2005 — President Mbeki is an extremely influential member of the African Union (AU) and the Democratic Alliance calls on him to use his muscle to ensure that Chad’s call for the January 2006 AU summit not to take place in Sudan is not ignored.
Chad’s foreign minister, Ahmat Allam-Mi (in a message posted on his government’s website) points out that neighbouring Sudan is pursuing policies which destabilise both Chad and the entire region. His comments follow attacks on a Chadian border town; Allam-Mi’s government blames the attack on the Sudanese government.
This does not even refer to the whole tragic Darfur situation which continues to condemn millions of Sudanese to a terrible existence tolerated if not fomented by their own government.
If Sudan is to receive the benefits and the respect accorded to the host country of an AU summit with the possibility of the AU presidency to follow then Sudan should be required to mend its ways. President Mbeki needs to consult his fellow Presidents and exercise a little quiet diplomacy aimed at having the summit moved and held somewhere far less controversial.