Britain’s Straw to address parties to Darfur talks

Feb 13, 2006 (LAGOS) — British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will address parties to the Darfur peace talks on Tuesday during a visit, an African Union spokesman said Monday.

“Straw will visit the venue of the talks in Abuja and will brief the parties, international partners and donors and observers during a plenary session,” Nouredeen Mezni said.

He said Britain’s top diplomat will be received by the AU special envoy to Darfur, Tanzanian-born Salim Ahmed Salim, at 10:00 am (0900 GMT).

The British Foreign Office said Straw will be in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Straw will ask, on behalf of the international community, for an end to “haggling and posturing and the start of real action” in the Darfur peace talks, according to a statement.

The British minister is due to ask participants for four immediate measures: to respect a ceasefire, to end attacks on AU forces and humanitarian convoys, to assist the work of humanitarian agencies and to send those who have committed atrocities to court, the Foreign Office said.

Last week, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ambassador Said Djinnit met the parties and the international partners to assess the progress of the Abuja talks.

The current round of negotiations, the seventh, to end the three-year-old conflicts between Khartoum and two rebel groups, has focussed on security arrangements, power sharing and wealth between the warring parties.

The Darfur war pits the rebel groups who are campaigning for a greater share of the power and wealth of Sudan against the Khartoum government and its affiliated militias.

Fighting and the humanitarian crisis in the region has claimed between 180,000 and 300,000 lives, and displaced more than two million people.

(ST)