Sudan collects support for AU chairmanship
Jan 21, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s endeavor to win the African Union’s (AU) chairmanship has brought it the support from quite a few African countries, said the Sudanese government.
According to Sudan’s Minister of Information and Communication Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik, Nigeria, whose President Olusegun Obasanjo is the current AU chairman, has given support to his country’s bid.
“We have Nigeria’s support,” said al-Zahawi Saturday at the sideline of the ongoing AU Executive Council meeting, “Obasanjo …has spoken on this matter and said he supported Sudan.”
“We have very strong relation with Nigeria and we hope that Obasanjo will play a role as a wise man in Africa to support Sudan’s competition for the chairmanship,” al-Zahawi told reporters.
Khartoum has earlier claimed that it has obtained the support from the majority of African states, especially east African countries including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Somalia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Seychelles and Mauritius.
The Foreign Minister of Somalia, Abdalla Sheikh Ismail, has referred to a trend of the African countries to boost unanimously Sudan’s chairmanship of the African Union in its coming session, said the Sudan New Agency (SUNA) on Saturday.
Meanwhile the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Abul Gheit, has also told the SUNA that Egypt is keen to support the Sudanese people to realize their goals at all domains.
Since host nations have traditionally assumed the continental body’s rotating chair, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is a candidate for the presidency, expected to be finalized by the 53 member states at their sixth summit in Khartoum early next week.
The Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said that the decision of these countries to back Sudan for the coming chairmanship will motivate Sudan to go ahead implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and continuing its efforts at the negotiations in Abuja to achieve a final solution for Darfur problem.
Sudan’s hosting of the summit, which might automatically give the country the AU chairmanship, has been opposed by its neighbor Chad and a group of nongovernmental organizations, which said Sudan is too aggressive” to be awarded such a high diplomatic position.
Chad has accused Khartoum of sheltering and backing Chadian rebels in its violent Darfur region and the dispute is adding to insecurity in the area.
Sudan’s two main rebel groups fighting in the western Darfur region, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, have reportedly threatened to walk out of AU-sponsored peace talks, currently being held in Abuja, Nigeria, if African leaders elect al-Bashir to the AU presidency.
The Darfur conflict, which pits the two rebel groups against the Sudanese government since February 2003, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and driven more than one million others from their homes.
However, President al-Bashir on Saturday said that the issue of AU chairmanship is not on the top agenda of the summit and whetherhe takes over the seat will not affect the successful holding of the meeting.
(Xinhua)