Belgium stresses support for African peacekeepers in Darfur
May 2, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Visiting Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht stressed on Tuesday his country’s support for African Union (AU)’s peacekeeping mission in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
The Belgian official voiced the support at a press conference following a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Lam Akol.
De Gucht told the reporters that Belgium welcomed a recent agreement reached by the Sudanese government, the AU and UN on UN’s “heavy support” for the AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, hoping that this agreement would be implemented as soon as possible.
The Sudanese government announced on April 16 its acceptance of the heavy support package, which is the second step of the three- phased UN peacekeeping plan aimed at deploying a hybrid UN-AU force in Darfur.
During the undergoing first phase, the light support package including 105 officers, 33 police advisers and 48 civilian officials is being delivered to Darfur by the UNMIS.
Answering a question on the U.S. and British threat of imposing sanctions against Sudan, the Belgian foreign minister said that the international society had reached a consensus that the priority at the present stage was the political process to realize peace in Darfur.
De Gucht underlined the necessity of concentrating on the efforts of finding a political solution to the Darfur problem and forming an effective peacekeeping force there.
For his part, Sudan’s Akol said that his talks with De Gucht were fruitful, noting that the Belgian government had agreed to provide Sudan with technical and capacity building support, especially to help Sudan implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in southern Sudan and achieving stability in Darfur.
The two sides agreed that priority should be given to the peaceful and political solution for Darfur issue, he said, adding that they shared identical views on the importance of persuading the non-signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) to join the peace process.
The Sudanese government signed the AU-sponsored DPA with a main faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) in the Nigerian capital Abuja on May 5, 2006.
But other two rebel groups taking part in the Abuja negotiations have rejected the agreement, claiming that it was unfair and failed to meet all their demands.
The Belgian foreign minister arrived in Khartoum on Monday on a seven-day official visit to Sudan.
(Xinhua)