Sudan’s Darfur peace talks in Slovenia postponed indefinitely

Feb 12, 2006 (LJUBLJANA) — Peace talks between the warring sides in the Sudanese region of Darfur, scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday in Slovenia, have been postponed indefinitely, the office of President Janez Drnovsek told the Slovene state-run STA on Sunday.

According to the president’s office, the sides set conditions for the level of the meeting, making it impossible to stage such a meeting that would lead to the initialling or signing of a peace agreement.

Moreover, officials in the president’s office explained that it was obvious the participants were pressured not to take part in the meeting.

There was obvious pressure from a number of international organizations, the office explained, adding that representatives of the United Nations also failed to show much enthusiasm for helping to bring about the meeting.

The pressure on the warring sides included threats that their participation in negotiations in Slovenia could endanger the Abuja peace process, the office added.

The peace talks in Slovenia are by no means an attempt to undermine the Abuja peace process, Drnovsek’s office underscored.

There was no point in pushing ahead with a meeting for which not enough readiness was shown, the office said.

However, the office believes that there is not much time to lose now, so as not to relinquish the fresh impetus injected in the Darfur peace process by Drnovsek’s peace plan, which was met with wide approval from the warring sides.

According to Drnovsek’s aides, additional diplomatic efforts are needed to ensure that a meeting takes place in Slovenia in the near future.

The doubters will have to be convinced that this is a genuine effort to achieve peace and offer humanitarian assistance to Darfur, the office said, adding that the president was ready to keep up his efforts.

The announcement comes after Drnovsek revealed earlier this week that his proposed peace plan for Darfur would likely lead to a round of peace talks in Slovenia.

The meeting was first expected to be held at the weekend, but Drnovsek told the BBC World Service Radio on Saturday that talks were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

Drnovsek outlined this week an upgraded, 16-point peace agreement to the Sudanese government and three leading rebel groups in Darfur: the Sudanese Liberation Army, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement.

(ST)