UNAMID’s Gambari shows willingness to cooperate with Sudan

January 24, 2010 (KHARTOUM) –The newly appointed head of the hybrid peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Sudanese authorities to establish peace and security in the restive region Darfur.

“We reaffirmed our commitment to work jointly and cooperatively to address the remaining challenges in Darfur, so that we can do everything possible to implement UNAMID’s mandate,” Ibrahim Gambari said today following a series of meetings with Sudanese officials in Khartoum.

The new chief of AU-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and Joint Special Representative (JSR), Professor Gambari met today in Khartoum with the state minister for foreign affairs Elsamani Alwasila and the Ministry’s undersecretary, Mutrif Siddiq, to formally announce his arrival in Sudan and assumption of duty. He also reviewed the humanitarian, political and security aspects of the situation in Darfur.

The Joint Representative stressed during the two meetings that he would work with full transparency and clarity in the implementation of the UNAMID mandate, said Mohamed Abdallah Idriss, the head of the peace department in the foreign ministry.

He further said that the two Sudanese officials reaffirmed the commitment of all government agencies and the various competent authorities to cooperate with Gambari to achieve his duties as a head of the joint operation in Darfur.

On Saturday, Gambari attended a reception held in his honor by the Nigerian Ambassador to Sudan, Salihu Ahmed-Sambo. The diplomat noted that Gambari “has the caliber, professionalism, and the experience” to lead UNAMID. The event was attended by ambassadors of the African countries. Similar support was reiterated by the Dean of the African group, and ambassador of Algeria, as well as the head of the AU liaison office in Khartoum.

He also made a courtesy call to UNMIS Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Ashraf Qazi.

The Nigerian diplomat will arrive in El Fasher tomorrow, to gain a first-hand perspective of the situation on the ground. He will then head to the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa to meet with AU Commission leadership and attend the organization’s annual summit. Also, he will attend the meeting of the AU/UN/Government of Sudan Tripartite Mechanism, taking place in Addis Ababa on 4 February.

(ST)