Yemen blocks Arab parliamentarian conference on Darfur under Sudanese pressure

May 5, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Yemeni government moved in unexpectedly to ban a conference for Arab parliamentarians on Darfur scheduled for today and tomorrow amid reports of pressure by Khartoum to do so.

“We were surprised a few hours before the conference began when security men blocked participants access to the hall,” Yemen’s Social Democratic Forum secretary general Nabil Abdul-Hafiz told Agence France Presse (AFP).

He cited the security men as saying they had “received instructions to do so.”

The Yemeni government had earlier given the participants “all the facilities including the granting of visas without any restrictions, so we found the decision to ban the conference surprising,” Abdul-Hafiz added.

“I think that the Sudanese government has put pressure on the Yemeni authorities to prevent the conference from taking place,” he charged.

Arab media reported that the cancellation came at the request of the Sudanese Embassy in Yemen made to the foreign ministry saying will affect the unity of Sudan.

Abdul-Hafiz said that after contacting officials, “the justification we heard from a high Yemeni official is that the government avoids and does not allow a conference in Sana’a which may direct abuse to a fellow Arab country.”

The parliamentarians from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Sudan described the decision as “contrary to the laws and regulations of the Republic of Yemen”. Abdul-Hafiz suggested that they may move the venue to another country.

The Egyptian MP from the Wafd Party, Saber Mohamed Hassan expressed regret over the decision by the authorities and the pressure made by Khartoum.

“I regret as an Egypt representative and coming from Egypt in order to meet as Arab parliamentarians for Darfur in order to offer suggestions and cooperation and contribute to the resolution of this crisis only to be surprised by this cancellation and that is suspicious already and I feel sorry for the Arab regimes and say that this is why we are backward” Hassan told the Elaph online news portal. .

“This is an insult to the Arab Parliamentarians whether from the Yemeni authorities or the intervention of the Sudanese government and unfortunately in this manner they create the counter effect in the Darfur crisis, and in this mental state Sudan will be divided to five countries and not only two” he added.

His colleague from Egypt Salah Al-Deen Al-Saegh described the move as prevention of dialogue, pointing out that the coalition supports the unity of Sudan in all its forms “and was the first to come our brothers in Sudan and open the door to dialogue and debate about this is better than being gagged.”

“We do not have any Western agenda or any other all we are doing is looking at the issue rationally that put things in perspective” he added.

A year ago, the British telecom tycoon of Sudanese origin, Mo Ibrahim cancelled a conference for civil society figures from Darfur, alleging that the government was obstructing their arrangements for the conference in Ethiopia.

“Mandate Darfur” was an effort for civil society figures to establish common positions toward reaching a negotiated solution for Darfur. The conference scheduled for May 12-16 in Addis Ababa would have brought together some 300 representatives from across the region, the biggest ever assembly of the Darfuri civil society.

According to the United Nations, 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels in Darfur rose up against the Khartoum government which was aided by local Arab militias, in February 2003. Sudan puts the death toll at 10,000.

(ST)