Darfur envoys meet rebel SLA commanders
April 17, 2008 (El-FASHER) — United Nations and African Union special envoys for Darfur met today with field commanders of Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur to discuss ways to establish security in the region before peace talks.
Suleiman Marjan, the rebel SLA commander in North Darfur, told Sudan Tribune by satellite from Darfur that SLA field commanders met today with Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim in the mountainous area of Nertiti on the edge of Jebel Marra on Thursday.
The rebel leading commander said they discussed with peace envoys, the ongoing efforts by the peace envoy to re-establish the security and to implement ceasefire in the region as vital measure to hold peace talks with the Sudanese government.
The rebel movement refuses to hold talks with the Sudanese government before the protect of civilians by international peacekeepers and Khartoum commitment to the ceasefire in the war-torn region.
Marjan also said the cooperation of the SLA commanders with the hybrid peacekeeping forces was considered necessary by the two envoys.
The two envoys, who arrived since one week in Sudan, are expected to hold a press conference in Khartoum on Friday where they should give further details about the outcome of the visit.
This meeting is the first since the failure of Darfur peace talks in 2006 between the AU peace mediator, the SLA-AW and Justice and Equality Movement. The two envoys held a meting with the SLM/A founder, al-Nur, in Geneva last month in presence of the five members of the UN Security Council.
(ST)