AU Statement on alleged plans to change the venue of Darfur peace talks
AFRICAN UNION
Jan 20, 2006 (ABUJA) — The attention of the African Union Mediation Team has been drawn to media reports attributed to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to the Sudan, Mr. Jan Pronk, which inter-alia claimed that “a new strategy to bring peace to Darfur”, would entail “relocating the Abuja Peace Talks to the Region of Darfur, to guarantee the participation of tribal communities in the Talks”. The AU is unable at this point in time, to ascertain the veracity of the alleged Report and its origins. However, given the confusion that has been generated by that statement and its potential for destabilizing the ongoing process and for the avoidance of doubt, the AU Mediation wishes to state as follows:
1. There are no immediate plans either at the level of the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Professor Alpha Oumar Konaré or the Special Envoy and Chief Mediator, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, to relocate the Venue of the Talks from Abuja to Darfur, for very obvious reasons;
2. The Chief Mediator had only recently (on 13 January 2006), held extensive and productive consultations with the Secretary General of the UN and members of the UN Security Council as well as other stakeholders, on the Abuja process. At no time did the Secretary General of the UN, or the President and Members of the Council, express such a desire or discuss the alleged strategy. On the contrary, there was strong and unambiguous support for the Abuja Peace Talks with a demand for its early conclusion. It was within that context that the UN Security Council, as the AU Peace Security Council had done earlier on 12 January 2006, renewed the appeals to the Sudanese Parties in Abuja, to approach the Talks with more seriousness, determination and flexibility, in order to ensure that an Agreement is reached in the next few weeks on all the outstanding substantive issues.
3. The AU Mediation reaffirms its commitment to the earlier Agreement by the Sudanese Parties in the Declaration of Principles (DoP) adopted and signed in July 2005, which among other things, stated as follows: “In order to facilitate the effective implementation of agreements reached regarding the comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Darfur, as well as to instill and promote an all inclusive ownership, efforts shall be made to secure the full support of the people of Darfur, through an appropriate public consultation mechanism”.
That provision in the DoP, is an acknowledgement that there are other stakeholders in Darfur, apart from the Parties represented in Abuja, who will have to be consulted and their support for the implementation of any Agreement obtained. That principled position has not changed and will only change after an appropriate decision by the Policy Organs of the AU based on the expressed will of the Parties to the Talks.
4. The AU Mediation strongly appeals to the Sudanese Parties, the Partners/Observers/Facilitators involved in the Talks, to engage in serious negotiations and to refrain from all actions and statements that could only serve as unnecessary distractions for an already difficult and complex process. It is the intention of the African Union to assist the Sudanese Parties, in making the 7th Round of the Talks, the decisive Round, in line with the commitment they had earlier made at the end of the 6th Round in Abuja.
Press Contact:
– Noureddine Mezni
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