Britain presents seven points initiative for peace in Sudan’s Dafur

Feb 4, 2006 (LONDON) — Britain presented to the Sudan a plan called “seven steps for establishing peace in Sudan” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw gave this plan to his Sudanese counterpart who met yesterday in London.

According to the London based Asharq al-Awsat, one of the points in the British proposal is the Sudanese government’s compliance with the clauses of the peace agreement and others are the disarmament of the Janjawid forces, the building of personal relations with the rebels’ leaders, and the willingness to deploy UN forces in the country without the Sudanese government imposing any conditions on them.

Akol refrained from commenting on the recommendations, saying he did not see them before coming to the press conference. But he said: “We are a government of national unity and determined to work seriously to solve these problems we inherited from the past.

The road is open for progress.” He added: “Our talks were positive and it is our duty to see that security prevails. We are willing to discuss any initiative in that direction.”

Straw however expressed “the frustration that we feel because of the lack of progress in the peace process efforts in Abuja” where the warring forces are holding talks to reach a peace agreement in Darfur. Straw attributed the stalling of these efforts “to the lack of coherence by many of the rebel groups to be real partners in the talks with the government”.

The two ministers discussed the possibility of sending international forces to Sudan but did not divulge the outcome of the talks. Akol said his country was waiting for the African Union’s decision about the possibility of referring the matter to the United Nations and added: “The Union has not made a decision and our government is waiting for the issue to be set in motion.” Asked whether his country prefers the dispatch of international peacekeeping forces, he answered: “We do not want to cross the bridge before we come to it.”

(ST)