Sudan VP, Darfur opposition leader discuss peace moves
KHARTOUM, Jan 24 (AFP) — Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and exiled Darfur opposition leader Ahmed Ibrahim Draij have met in Nairobi to discuss ways of achieving peace and reconciliation.
The media quoted Taha’s office as saying the Friday meeting with Draij, head of the Federal Alliance Party, “came in the framework of efforts for unifying the national ranks and widening the scope of dialogue on national issues.”
The two, who met at the Sudanese embassy, “agreed that holding arms would not solve the country’s problems, and that a responsible national dialogue constitutes the sole means for addressing the political differences and problems.”
Draij, who was a governor of Darfur in the 1970s before falling out with then president Jaafar Nimeiri and going into exile, said the Darfur “problem is of economic and political roots and should therefore be resolved politically.
“Fighting should be halted immediately and the two parties should agree on resuming the negotiation,” said Draij, a Fur tribesman who is said to be influential among his big tribe and other Darfurians.
He added that halting the war would offer an opportunity for addressing the humanitarian condictions created by the fighting in various parts of Darfur.
For his part, Taha said his government believes that all of Sudan’s problems could be resolved through a dialogue of the country’s people.
The government would welcome every effort for a peaceful solution, he said, stressing that an end to fighting would create circumstances “conducive to improving the humanitarian situation.”
Meanwhile, dozens of children fleeing captivity in rebel-held areas of Sudan’s western North Darfur have arrived in the state’s capital, a press report said Saturday.
The Sudan Media Centre said 87 children arrived in Al-Fashir Thursday after having been abducted by armed “gangs” in raids on the localities of Abu Gamrah, Mellit and Tinah.
The children said they had been subjected to beating, torture and hard labour and that some of them who had attempted to escape had been killed.
The Sudan Liberation Movement launched a rebellion last February to protest against alleged government neglect of the semi-desert region. The rebellion has cost some 3,000 lives, according to UN estimates.
Another 400,000 have been displaced by the conflict in the states of North, South and West Darfur.