Sudan accepts Egypt’s mediation with Darfur rebels
Sept 26, 2006 (CAIRO) — Sudan has accepted an Egyptian proposal to convene a meeting for Darfur rebels groups opposed to the Darfur Peace Agreement to discuss their demands and integrate it in an interpretive annex.
Reliable sources disclosed to Sudan Tribune that Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir that has accepted an Egyptian proposal to hold a meeting in Cairo for Darfur rebel groups rejecting the DPA.
The proposal was formulated by President Hosni Mubarak to al-Bashir who made a stopover in Cairo on his way back to Sudan after attending the 61st UN General Assembly session in New York on Thursday 21 September.
The sources indicated that al-Bashir has stipulated that Darfur rebels should clearly express their rejection to the presence of the international forces in Darfur.
He also said the additional accord would be adopted as an interpretive annex to the Darfur Peace Agreement signed on 5 May between the Sudanese government and a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minawi.
In a press conference president held Sunday in Khartoum, al-Bashir spoke about government’s “efforts” to convince the holdout rebels to joint the DPA without elaborating. He also appealed the Sudanese opposition to back his rejection of the UN forces takeover from the AU forces in Darfur.
All the Darfur forces, even the former rebel group of Minni Minawi who signed the DPA, are favourable to the deployment of the international forces in the war-torn region of Darfur.
The Darfur rebels’ demands include individual compensation from Khartoum for Darfur war victims and rigorous mechanism for disarmament of the Janjaweed with UN and rebels monitoring, also to consider Darfur as one region and to have greater participation in the federal government.
(ST)