UN, AU envoy discuss Darfur peace process with Sudan FM
March 24, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese Foreign Minister, Lam Akol, has discussed, in a meeting with AU and UN envoys, the outcome of contacts made with armed movements that did not sign the Abuja Agreement,
Lam Akol, minister of foreign affairs has met today in Khartoum, the visiting UN envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, and AU envoy for Darfur Salim Ahmed Salim to discuss progress in contact with Darfur holdout rebels groups, along side ways to activate political dialogue between all parties involved in the Darfur issue.
Eliasson said he was optimistic that fighting parties could reach a truce, saying previously reticent rebel groups had agreed to negotiate. He arrived in the Sudanese capital Friday night, where he joined with his African Union counterpart, envoy Salim Ahmed Salim, to try and re-energize the peace process.
Eliasson and Salim are to meet with government officials in Khartoum before traveling together to Darfur for talks with rebel leaders.
Eliasson has warned of the danger of allowing the fighting in Sudan, which has already spilled into neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic, to balloon into a regional conflict. He urged to put an end to the violence in the region, to provide humanitarian aide to the civilians and to mend ties with Chad.
The foreign minister informed the two envoys that the government is determined to fulfil the UN packages of supporting the AU troops in Darfur that was agreed with the UN and the AU in line with the Addis Ababa Agreement.
The meeting also discussed efforts being made by some of the neighboring countries to encourage all parties to support peaceful resolution of the Darfur issue.
Eliasson told the press that his visit aimed at initiating the peace process, adding that the Security Council has been eagerly awaiting fruitful results of this visit.
More than 200,000 people have been killed in four years of fighting between ethnically African Darfur rebels and Arab-dominated central government forces, creating a refugee crisis in which more than 2 million people have been displaced.
Eliasson and Salim’s trip coincided with a visit to the region by new U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes, who urged the Sudanese government on Friday to stop hindering aid groups in what he called “the biggest humanitarian operation in the world.”
(ST)