UN chief says optimist for Drafur peace process
Sept 9, 2007 (TRIPOLI) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday he was encouraged by “credible progress” toward peace and security in Darfur at the end of a week-long trip to Sudan, Chad and Libya to promote an solution to the four-year conflict.
Ban said he received support from leaders of the three countries for new negotiations between Darfur’s splintered rebel groups and the Sudanese government, set for Oct. 27 in Libya, and he urged key regional governments to help ensure that the talks result in a political solution to the protracted conflict.
“I think we have made another credible progress at this time toward the path to peace and security in Darfur,” he said in an interview with three reporters. “I’m encouraged by this progress, but we must build upon this progress. It is too early to say that we have made some good achievement.”
Throughout the trip Ban reiterated his commitment to making next month’s Libya negotiations the basis for a final settlement to the bloody conflict in Darfur that has claimed 200,000 lives and resulted in 2.5 million people being driven from their homes.
As a first step to follow-up the progress from his trip, Ban said he asked Sudan, Chad, Libya, Egypt and Eritrea to establish a team to coordinate efforts and work on a roadmap that the United Nations will prepare. It will outline steps that must be taken ahead of the Oct. 27 peace talks, he said.
Ban said he expects the roadmap to be discussed at a high-level meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 21 just before world leaders gather for the annual General Assembly meeting.
“I would like to build upon the momentum I have been able to create during my visit,” he said. “This should be (a) very good opportunity for us to get the roadmap … and agree upon that for the successful negotiation” for a political settlement.
The Sept. 21 meeting will also focus on peace and security issues including early deployment of a proposed 26,000-strong U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, the Libya talks, and development issues such as water scarcity.
U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson said any final settlement in Darfur would require agreement on wealth-sharing, power-sharing and security issues.
But producing a settlement requires support from all key players, and one of the major rebel leaders, Abdel Wahid Nur, has conditioned his attendance to any talks with a cessation of fighting in Darfur.
Nur, who leads a major faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement group, boycotted talks in early August for the same reason that were aimed at getting Darfur’s splintered rebel groups to agree on an agenda for peace talks.
Ban again urged Nur to “look at the reality” and participate in the peace negotiations.
“If he regards himself as a leader … he should be prepared to make the right decision, the wise decision,” he said. “If he really thinks for the future of Sudan … he should come.”
Ban said preparations for the deployment of the AU-U.N. force “are moving on track” and it has more than enough commitments from African countries for troops -but he said the force still needs specialized aviation, transport and logistical units which he urged European countries to provide.
When he was asked about the paradox that Western nations who have called the loudest for peace in Darfur have been the slowest in responding to contributions for the hybrid force, Ban said he appreciated the political commitment from industrialized countries for the early resolution of the Darfur conflict and expected the specialized technology to be provided by “the Western powers.”
Ban said that in his meetings with Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum he urged the president “to cooperate fully to nurture this very fragile process,” expedite deployment of the hybrid force, and “exercise maximum restraint.”
“For that (to be) possible, he must keep the cessation of hostilities, he must not do any further aerial bombardments, he must ensure smooth flow of humanitarian assistance, and protect humanitarian workers so they will not be hindered in their works,” Ban said.
Asked how al-Bashir responded, Ban said the president made a “strong commitment” to abide by a humanitarian agreement earlier this year with the United Nations to expedite aid.
Al-Bashir’s government has been accused of unleashing the janjaweed militias upon the rebels and committing atrocities as well as interfering with the work of humanitarian organizations.
“He said sometimes he had to take necessary actions for self defense, but I strongly appealed (to) him it is absolutely necessary for Sudanese government to manage this situation very carefully so that we will have successful political negotiations,” the secretary-general said.
(AP)