Qatar asks Chad to persuade Darfur rebels to join peace talks

November 3, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Qatar has urged the Chadian government to convince Darfur rebels to participate in the upcoming of peace talks that the mediation plans to hold this month in Doha.

Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir Al-Thani, the Qatari Prime Minister and foreign minister held talks with the Chadian President today in Ndjamena where he arrived on Tuesday.

“The minister expressed hope that Chad contributes to the success of the next meeting to be held in Doha” reported the official Qatar News Agency. Adding he also stressed that the end of Darfur conflict would help to improve the bilateral relations between Chad and Sudan.

“I hope the outcome of the next meeting would constitute the start of the end of Darfur conflict. We count on the Chadian role because we do believe it has an important leverage in this regard” Al-Thani said.

The mediation will gather in Doha within two weeks members of the Darfurian civil society. This meeting is expected to be followed by a meeting between the Sudanese government and rebel groups. However, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which had signed the goodwill agreement with Khartoum, refuses now to join the talks.

JEM asks to release of its fighters who are sentenced for death in Khartoum and to improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur. Khartoum had agreed to release the prisoners of wars but it says it would implement this agreement only after the signing ceasefire deal.

However JEM rebels despite their boycott for Doha talks say committed to the peace process and urge the release of their members.

Sudan and Chad also are encouraged by regional and international players to put an end to their differences. After last month visit by the Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen to Chad, the two countries are expected to resume soon talks on bilateral ties.

President Idriss Deby said last month that Bashir had pledged to neutralize Chadian rebels and remove them from the border.

(ST)