African mediators propose enhanced ceasefire implementation in Darfur
Mar 12, 2006 (ABUJA) — The AU mediators, today, presented the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups with comprehensive proposals for an enhanced humanitarian ceasefire, imploring both sides to bring the bloodshed and suffering to an end.
In spite of the signing of a ceasefire agreement in April 2004, the insecurity reigns and continued fighting never stopped in Darfur.
“The humanitarian agencies in Darfur are reaching fewer people than they did when that Ceasefire Agreement was signed. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. This is completely unacceptable” said Sam Ibok, head of the AU mediation team in Abuja.
The proposed Enhanced Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement (EHCA) “contains provisions to make the N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement, signed on 8 April 2004 in the Chadian capital, a reality on the ground” said the spokesperson for AU peace mediators in Abuja Nourreddine Mezni.
The EHCA has, at its centre, “the demilitarization of humanitarian supply routes and camps for displaced people, which the African Union contends, should be secured by A.U. peacekeepers and civilian police.”
The proposal implies that the warring parties — Sudanese government and the rebels groups — withdraw their forces to clearly identified areas, with buffer zones between them.
The Head of the AU Mediation Team, Sam Ibok said “our experience over the past sixteen months has led us to conclude that there is neither good faith nor commitment on the part of any of the Parties.” “Our new proposals” he added, “are based on detailed technical work by a team of AU and UN experts.
On Friday, the AU Peace and Security Council agreed to extend the mandate of the 7000 African force until September 2006. The Council also urged the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels to sign on to the proposed EHCA.
The Chief Mediator for Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim, said: “The fate of millions of the suffering people in Darfur is in your hands. The eyes of the world are on you. Now is the time to bring this needless bloodshed to an end.”
This proposition follows a new decision made by the 15-member AU Peace and Security Council on Friday to extend the AU’s peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region from March to September 30, in order to gain time to try to mediate a peace agreement between conflicting parties and allow the United Nations (UN) to prepare to takeover the job.
(ST)