Sudan vows to work for peace in Darfur
Jan 22, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said Sunday his government was committed to peace in troubled Darfur as he signed up to an African program to rate Khartoum’s progress on good governance.
“We will carry on with our efforts through dialogue and negotiations to resolve the conflict in Darfur,” Bashir said in an address to a meeting of the African Peer Review Forum held on the eve of an African Union summit in Khartoum Sunday.
“We are fully devoted to restoring security and peacefulness and assist those who fled the war zone to return back to their villages and to lead a normal life,” said Bashir.
About 300,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced since 2003 in the western region of Darfur, torn by fighting between rebels and the Khartoum government supported by militias.
“It is needless to say that my government is strongly dedicated to its responsiblities towards safeguarding and sustaining human rights, battling gender insensitivity and eliminating bias against the underprivileged groups,” he said.
Sudan last year signed a historic peace accord ending a 21-year war with southern rebels that had left 1.5 million dead and displaced four million people.
A key pillar of the AU’s New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), the peer review mechanism was launched in 2004 as a home-grown mechanism for African government’s to rate each other on good governance.
AU leaders were discussing the peer review of Ghana and Rwanda, the first two countries to sign up to the rating system, ahead of the summit opening on Monday.
Sudan is lobbying energetically for support to take over the AU chair during the summit despite concerns over the ongoing violence in Darfur, one of the continent’s worst humanitarian crises.
Other than Sudan, Zambia and Sao Tome and Principe said Sunday that they were joining 23 other countries that are to be rated under the peer review mechanism.
(STAFP)