AU envoy briefs Ghana president on Darfur peace process

June 19, 2007 (ACCRA, Ghana) — The African Union envoy for Darfur has briefed the Ghanaian president who is the current president of the AU on the ongoing efforts to re-energize peace process in order to end the four-year conflict in Darfur region.

Salim Ahmed Salim, AU Special Envoy for Darfur, during a meeting held in Accra on Monday 18, briefed the President of the Republic of Ghana John Agyekum Kufuor, on the joint efforts carried out by him and the UN envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, to re-energize the political process in Darfur in accordance with the relevant AU-UN and the international Community decisions.

Present at this occasion, were Senior Officials of the Government of Ghana, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nana Akufo Addo, the Permanent Representative of Ghana to the UN. Amb. Toure Dauda, while Salim was accompanied by Amb. Sam Ibok, Head of the AU Joint Mediation Support Team.

During the briefing, Salim provided a comprehensive update on the joint AU/UN initiatives to broaden the political engagement with all the relevant Stakeholders in Darfur, the Sudan, the Region, and other Parties within and outside Africa, on the renewed political process for Darfur. He also briefed the current Chairman on the Joint AU-UN effort to finalize a three-phased Roadmap for the political process that will culminate in a new round of negotiations to end the conflict in Darfur.

The AU envoy welcomed the recent Agreement by the Government of the Sudan on the deployment of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation. This development is an important element for a successful political negotiation and the implementation of any new Agreement that would result from any such negotiation. In the meantime, he stressed the need for strengthening the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to enable it stabilize the security situation in Darfur in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and create a conducive environment for the new political process.

The current Chairman expressed support for the ongoing effort by Salim and his colleagues and stressed the fact that the conflict in Darfur can only be ended peacefully through dialogue and negotiations.

He also welcomed the Agreement on the deployment of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation and stressed the need in the meantime, for the full implementation of the Light and the Heavy Support Packages, which were intended to strengthen the capacity of the AMIS to enable it implement its mandate in Darfur.

In this regard, both President Kufuor and Salim strongly appealed to AU’s International Partners to provide the necessary financial and logistics support to strengthen AMIS pending the full deployment of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation.

(ST)