US envoy for Sudan to meet UN Secretary General

By Wasil Ali

April 1, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios will hold a meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, Sudan Tribune has learned. The meeting will focus on the nature of what appeared to be concessions made by Sudan on the AU-UN hybrid force.

Ban, who just returned from a Mideast tour held a three hours meeting with Sudan’s president Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the Arab Summit. Saudi Arabia arranged the meeting in an attempt to bridge the difference between Sudan and the UN on the issue of the peacekeeping force in Darfur. An announcement was made by Saudi foreign Minister following the meeting that al-Bashir agreed to let UN forces into Darfur describing it as a “breakthrough”.

The announcement was met with skepticism from the US administration. Last month al-Bashir has sent a letter to the UN Secretary General outlining numerous objections to phase two of the AU-UN hybrid force which was considered as backtracking by Sudan on the Addis Ababa communiqué it has signed.

Bashir’s letter prompted the US to decide to proceed with a financial sanctions package as part of ‘Plan B’ and was due to announce its details within the course of the week.

Last Friday State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States was seeking clarification from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the outcome of his meeting with al-Bashir. McCormack implied that the US will not accept any preconditions by al-Bashir to accept the AU-UN hybrid force.

Some observers have said that the Riyadh declaration amounted to nothing other than another stalling tactic by Sudan to preempt proposed sanctions. Reuters quoted a senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that he was puzzled on the sudden change of heart by President al-Bashir given the letter he sent a few weeks ago which was filled with restrictions on the role of the UN force role in Darfur.

However, last week the Sudanese minister of state for foreign affairs Ali Karti went further to say that Sudan is willing to reconsider UN resolution 1706 which authorized sending about 20,000 peacekeeping forces to Darfur.

This is the first time a Sudanese official was quoted talking more favorably of the resolution which Sudan has adamantly rejected. Al Bashir said in his speech during Arab Summit in Riyadh that Sudan has managed to overcome the UN resolution 1706.