Darfur JEM leader meets with UNAMID chief in Libya

December 2, 2010 (PARIS) – The head of the African Union – United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Ibrahim Gambari met today with the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Khalil Ibrahim in Libya today to discuss with him the humanitarian and security situation on the ground.

Ibrahim has been staying in Libya since May when authorities in neighboring Chad stopped him at their capital’s airport and said he could not pass through their territory to return to the battlefield in Darfur.

The rebel movement has suspended its participation in the peace talks last May hosted by the Arab Gulf state of Qatar after accusing the Sudanese army of breaching a cessation of hostility accord signed between the two sides.

The withdrawal sparked a surge of violence in the remote western region and dealt a heavy blow to the internationally- brokered negotiations, the latest in a series of attempts to resolve the festering seven-year conflict.

JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein told Sudan Tribune by phone from Doha that Gambari asked Khalil for assistance in fulfilling the mandate of the 20,000-strong UNAMID peacekeeping force which was established in 2008.

According to Hussein, the UNAMID chief denied that he pointed fingers at JEM for attacks on convoys whether they are humanitarian or commercial. Khalil stressed on Gambari the need for UNAMID to play its role in securing all convoys and going after those attacking it.

He also called on UNAMID to be neutral and be at equal footing from all sides of the conflict.

The United Nations estimates 300,000 people have died in Darfur’s crisis in the past seven years, but Sudan rejects that figure. The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Bashir last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region.

(ST)