Darfur peace mediators arrive in Sudan on Friday

November 24, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Qatari State Minister for foreign affairs, Ahmed bin Abdallah Al-Mahmoud and the Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole will fly to the Sudan on Friday for a seven-day visit where they will meet Sudanese officials and Darfur civil society.

The mediators will start their visit on Friday 26 November and will return to Doha on 2 December, said a press release issued by the mediation, on Wednesday.

Al-Mahmoud and Bassole will meet the Sudanese officials in charge of Darfur file like Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah Eddin, and Amin Hassan Omer, government top negotiator.

But, the most important for the two mediators is to meet President Bashir as they met him recently in Doha during a visit to Qatar.

The mediation seeks to convince President Bashir to concede at least on one of two outstanding issues: a vice presidency or to establish one region in Darfur.

Delegations from the Sudanese government and the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) ended direct peace talks and submitted the outstanding issues to the mediation which has now to find a compromise on the disputed issue.

The civil society in the restive region is seen as an important factor to implement any peace agreement inked by the government and the rebel groups.

In this respect, the mediation organized two meetings in Doha to brief them and to resolve their tribal disputes.

The IDPs, the nomad and the other civil society forces will be consulted by the mediation before to announce their peace document which should be worked out by the mediation.

Khartoum said a peace agreement with LJM should be signed before the end of the year and warned the other rebel groups that it would refuse to negotiate with them if they do not join the Doha process.

(ST)