Sudan, UN to discuss Darfur crisis in Saudi Arabia

March 27, 2007 (RIYADH) — A five sided meeting to discuss solutions for the Darfur issue will be held tomorrow evening in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the Arab summit. This initiative was made by the Saudi King Abdallah Bin-Abdulaziz.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa and AU chairman Alpha Omar Konare would take part in this meeting. It will discuss the difference over Addis Ababa and Abuja agreements related to the UN support to the African peacekeepers in Darfur, foreign minister Lam Akol said.

Earlier this month Sudanese president sent a letter to the UN Secretary General rejecting an accord over the deployment of 22.000 peacekeepers in Darfur. Al Bashir said the deployment of these troops contravenes with Darfur Peace Agreement. He further requested to renegotiate this accord.

The US has been pressing the Arab Gulf states to do more to resolve the Darfur crisis. Last year US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt and urged them to use their leverage to convince Sudan to accept UN peacekeeping forces in Darfur.

In a press conference yesterday, the Saudi minister of foreign affairs, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said the Darfur crisis was one of the issues that would be discussed in the Arab summit, and that there would be a meeting between the UN secretary-general and President Omar al-Bashir arranged by the Saudi King where they will deliberate regarding this Darfur issue.

(ST)