African leaders to visit Khartoum to discuss Darfur
Oct 7, 2006 (DAKAR) — The presidents of Senegal, Nigeria and Gabon are to travel to Khartoum “shortly” for talks with their Sudanese counterpart Omar el-Bashir about ending the crisis in Sudan’s western Darfur region, the Senegalese foreign ministry said Saturday.
“The delegation, which is expected by the Sudanese authorities, aims to bring it’s multifaceted contribution to overall African Union efforts, to obtain the complete end to hostilities and a global and lasting peace in Darfur as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Darfur conflict has killed at least 200,000 people and spawned a humanitarian crisis since early 2003, according to the United Nations.
The upcoming African visit comes amid an ongoing standoff between Khartoum and the UN over replacing overstretched and poorly equipped African peacekeepers with UN forces. Set to expire at the end of September, the mandate for the African force was extended until the year’s end.
On Friday, Sudan tried to mend fences with the UN, denying suggestions it had tried to “intimidate” countries planning to contribute troops to the proposed UN peacekeeping mission.
The latest source of contention is a Sudanese letter sent to African and Arab countries Tuesday, warning them that Khartoum would consider providing troops to the UN force as a “hostile act” and “a prelude to an invasion of a member country of the UN.”
The letter also restated Khartoum’s “total rejection” of a Security Council resolution passed in August mandating the deployment of up to 20,000 UN peacekeepers to Darfur to shore up the fragile peace accord.
Saturday’s statement described the African presidents heading to Khartoum — Senegal’s Abdoulaye Wade, Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo and Omar Bongo of Gabon — as a “committee of wise men” of Africa, formed under Wade’s initiative.
Wade serves as the committee’s coordinator, while Obasanjo will coordinate inter-Sudanese dialogue on behalf of the African Union and Bongo will represent heads of African states, the Senegalese ministry said.
Wade also spoke Friday with US President George W. Bush on peace and security issues in Africa, the statement added.
(ST/AFP)