African Union hails Darfur ceasefire, calls for aid for displaced
ADDIS ABABA; April 9 (AFP) — The African Union (AU) has welcomed a ceasefire deal reached by Khartoum and rebels from the western Darfur region and urged the international community to deliver aid to some 770,000 people affected by the conflict.
“The AU Commission chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare commends the parties for the political will, flexibility and spirit of compromise they have shown,” the AU said in a statement.
Konare urged the parties to live up to the commitments entered into and to reconvene very soon to discuss and agree on a comprehensive peace agreement to end the conflict in Darfur that pits Sudan government and two rebel groups — Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the statement said.
The war, which erupted in February last year, has claimed at least 10,000 lives and displaced about 670,000 others inside Sudan and a further 100,000 have fled across the border into eastern Chad.
Konare urged the international community to quickly provide the much needed humanitarian assistance to those affected, especially the internally displaced persons and refugees.
Under Thursday’s ceasefire and humanitarian agreements, signed in the Chadian capital Ndjamena under mediation of President Idriss Deby, the parties agreed to cease hostilities within 72 hours for a renewable period of 45 days.
They also agreed to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid to the stricken region, to free prisoners of war and to disarm militias who have been blamed for much of the violence.
The Janjawid, Arab militias allied to government troops, have been accused by the UN and non-governmental organisations of “ethnic cleansing” and atrocities against civilians in the poverty-stricken, largely desert region.
In a speech Wednesday marking the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the international community to consider military intervention in Darfur if Sudan continues to deny access to the region.