AU urges Darfurians to participate in dialogue conference
Nov 11, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The African Union (AU) stressed on Saturday the necessity for all the Darfurians, including those who refused to sign a peace deal with the Sudanese government, to take part in a proposed dialogue conference to end the bloody conflicts in the war-torn western Sudanese region.
Saeed Djinnit, the AU commissioner for peace and security, told reporters before leaving Khartoum concluding a three-day visit in Sudan, that the Darfurian-Darfurian dialogue conference, which is to be held under the supervision of the pan-African body, “will be an excellent opportunity for establishing a new future based on peace, unity and stability in Darfur”.
Expressing his confidence that the Darfurians can solve their problems without a foreign interference, the AU official said that the Darfurian-Darfurian dialogue conference should be held on the basis of mutual respect in order to restore social fabric and to set up institutions capable of assuming their roles in a multiracial, mutli-religious society.
Djannit called on all the Darfurians and particularly those who did not sign the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), which was signed in May by the Sudanese government and a main rebel faction but refused by the other rebel groups to create a conducive peaceful atmosphere for the dialogue conference.
He said that the AU would exert efforts to expand the DPA to include the non-signatory groups to make them participate and contribute to the dialogue conference in order to bring about the genuine security and stability in Darfur.
Djinnit added that the AU was seeking to normalize relations between Sudan and its neighbouring countries, hoping that Chad and other neighbouring countries would participate in the Darfurian- Darfurian dialogue conference to help make it successful.
Djnnit returned to Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where he is to deliver a report to the AU on his visit in Sudan.
The AU Peace and Security Council will hold a meeting in Addis Ababa on Monday to discuss the situation in Darfur and look into a suggestion of reinforcing the AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur with the help to be provided by the United Nations.
(Xinhua)