Libya to hold Darfur conference mid-July
July 4, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Libya is to host an international conference on Darfur on July 15 and 16 aimed at consolidating efforts to end violence in the western Sudanese region, the United Nations Mission in Khartoum said Wednesday.
The aim of the conference, to be held at a so-far-undisclosed venue in Libya, is to evaluate the progress of the “roadmap” on Darfur, which seeks to converge various diplomatic efforts to end the civil war there into one initiative led by the UN and the AU, Achouri said.
According to a UN source in Khartoum, 13 countries have been invited to attend the conference including Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, China, France, Russia, Britain, the United States, Canada, Holland and Norway.
The European Union and the Arab League have also been invited.
In April, Libya hosted a conference attended by the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council as well as regional governments, who called for a political solution to the Darfur crisis.
In May 2006, the Sudanese government signed a peace deal in Nigeria with only one of three negotiating rebel factions. The non-signatory rebel groups have since splintered and the fighting has not subsided.
In June, France hosted its own conference bringing together the United States, Khartoum-ally China and some 15 other nations, but the meeting was swiftly rejected by Sudan as a distraction to ongoing peace efforts.
Senior international figures charged with the Darfur file are expected in Sudan ahead of the Libya talks, including Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the African Union for Darfur, former Congolese Foreign Minister Rodolphe Adada.
Adada, who will head the African Union Mission in Sudan until a hybrid UN-AU force is in place, is expected in Khartoum late Thursday, according to AMIS.
He is due to meet Sudanese officials before heading to Darfur on July 9 to meet with the military chiefs of the 7,000-strong force operating there.
AMIS Force Commander, Nigerian General Martin Luther Agwai, who is to head the joint UN-AU force once it is deployed, arrived in Khartoum on Monday.
UN envoy Jan Eliasson is due in Khartoum late Wednesday, while AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim is expected in Khartoum on July 7.
The Darfur conflict pits a rebel insurgency against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum and its proxy militia known as the Janjaweed, whose leader stands accused of war crimes.
At least 200,000 people have been killed and two million driven from their homes since February 2003, according to the United Nations. Khartoum says the figures are exaggerated.
(AFP)