US Gration discuss Arab efforts to end Darfur conflict

April 30, 2009 (CAIRO) – US special envoy to Sudan met today with the Arab League chief to discuss Arab vision for the resolution of Darfur conflict.

Scott Gration met last Tuesday in Doha with the Qatari Prime Minister to discuss a peace process brokered by the AU-UN mediator and the Qatari government to end the Darfur conflict.

The US Presidential envoy told the reporters following the meeting his visit to Cairo aimed to get acquainted with Arab-Egyptian vision regarding the situation in Sudan particularly in Darfur.

The Arab League launched in July 2008 an initiative to end Darfur conflict jointly with the African Union. In September of last year the Arab League decided to establish a six-member committee headed by Qatar, Arab League Secretary General and the African Union (AU) chairman.

Also Qatar was chosen as the host country for the peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels.

The Arab move came after the indictment of President Omer Al-Bashir by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and had been seen by Darfur rebels as an attempt to rescue the embattled president. However JEM accepted to engage talks with Khartoum in February this year.

Gration termed his talks with Moussa as fruitful and expressed appreciation for Egypt and the Arab league role in this regard.

He also said he would travel to Chad to discuss ways to reach a ceasefire in Darfur in order to halt hostilities in the war torn region and pave the way for peaceful negotiations.

Chad is seen as the principal supporter of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Khalil Ibrahim. The Qatari government organizes since yesterday talks between the Sudanese and Chadian official to reach a compromise on their supposed support to their respective rebel groups.