Sudan slams AU commission’s report on Darfur crisis
Jan 21, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese Foreign Minister, Lam Akol, has criticized the report of the African Union’s Commission on Darfur crisis and the implementation od the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Akol made this remarks while addressing the AU Ministerial Council meeting Saturday at the Friendship Hall. The meeting discussed the report of the African Union’s Commission on the conflicts in Africa.
Akol has described the AU Commission’s report as contradictory and did not give regard to the positive developments in Sudan.
He said that the AU Commission’s report has neglected the great change in Sudan which resulted from the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreements and the efforts of the government and Sudan People’s liberation Movement (SPLM) toward implementation of the agreement’s items.
The Sudanese minister refuted the report’s claim that the committee for the border between North and South Sudan was not yet established, explaining that this committee was already set up in November 2005.
Akol said that the approach for solution of Darfur crisis requires precise commitment to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement which was signed in N’djamena in 2004.
He stated that the report has neglected also the most severe violations in Darfur, which were represented in the ambushes staged by the rebel movement against the forces of the African Union, citing as an example the ambushes that happened in last December and claimed lives of a Senegalese soldier and the wounding of other ten troops.
Akol stressed that the ceasefire agreement stipulated that Darfur rebel movements shall determine the areas of their military existence and to provide the African Union’s mission with maps on their locations so as to enable it monitor the implementation of the cease-fire. He said that the government has fulfilled its commitments regarding the cease-fire agreement.
The minister has criticized the item of the Commission’s report on the Chain rebel forces was vague and inaccurate.
He pointed out that the national unity government, which was established following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, has continued the efforts to achieve a peaceful solution through the African Union’s mediation, and in compliance with the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim Constitution of Sudan.
He said that the government delegation for the negotiations in Abuja is including figures of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), a matter which proved the seriousness of the national unity government and its determination to achieve a final and comprehensive peaceful solution for Darfur crisis.
(ST)