Sudanese president says committed to comprehensive peace

Nov 26, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir reiterated on Sunday his government’s commitment to realizing a comprehensive peace in the country and ending the tensions in the hot areas especially the western region of Darfur.

Al-Bashir made the remarks at the opening session of the conference on Islam in Africa which was held on the occasion of the elapse of fourteen centuries since Islam entered the African continent.

“The efforts to contain the remaining points of conflict in Darfur are about to reach their objective so that the region will enjoy just and comprehensive peace,” the president said.

He said that Sudan, which now is witnessing the implementation of peace agreements in south Sudan, Darfur and east Sudan, has shown its “credibility towards resolving all local African conflict in the African framework.”

Reiterating his country’s refusal of deploying UN international peacekeeping force in Darfur, al-Bashir said that “the peacekeeping force in Darfur should be basically African.”

“We do not want Sudan to be the field of proving the incapability of the African Union to keep the peace and to solve the problems on the African continent,” al-Bashir added.

Sudan has repeatedly rejected a UN Security Council resolution mandating the deployment of some 20,000 peacekeepers to replace the under-funded 7,800 AU forces in Darfur, terming it a violation of Sudan’s sovereignty and an effort by the West to colonize the African oil producing country.

(Xinhua)