Sudan renews its commitment to Doha process to end Darfur conflict

January 10, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese government renewed its commitment to the Doha peace process to end Darfur conflict stressing that its delegation can visit the venue of the talks without staying there.

The announcement has been made after threats by the President Omer Al-Bashir to pull out government delegation from Doha and to stop negotiations with rebel groups by the end of the year.

Also a presidential adviser in charge with Darfur file two days later announced the withdrawal of the Sudanese delegation and urged the mediation to finalize a peace accord with one of the rebel groups present in Doha.

However, Khartoum rejected a package of proposals on outstanding issues to pave the way for a peace agreement with the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).

“We are committed to negotiations and the ball in the court of the mediators” to present what they suggest on the pending issues, said Sudan’s Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs Rahamatallah Mohamed Osman on Monday.

“This can be done through correspondence and the exchange of delegations but we do not see any need to maintain government delegation in Doha,” he further emphasized.

The Sudanese official made his remarks following a meeting he called with the envoys of the States members of the UN Security Council to the Sudan. The undersecretary held a similar meeting with the envoys of the African Union countries in Khartoum.

He also met separately with the UNAMID’s deputy head of mission, Mohamed Younis to inform the peacekeeping mission formally of the government’s position.

The Afro-Arab ministerial committee reiterated last week its support to the Doha peace process and called to gather any other initiative with the ongoing efforts conducted jointly by the mediation and the State of Qatar.

The meeting besides the state members of the committee was attended also by representatives of regional organizations including AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) Commissioner, Ramadan Al-Amamra who backed the decision.

The Sudanese official said press statements in Khartoum Monday that his government would engage an internal process to end the conflict as it was agreed last October in a joint meeting attended by the AUPSC and the United Nations.

“We are in the process of applying a new strategy for Darfur and the government called for international community to assist in its implementation,” Rahamatallah said.

He stressed that the strategy deals with a number of issues, including the security situation and the development of infrastructure in the region. He underscored that the peace negotiations in Doha are part of this strategy. He further said that the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue sponsored by the chairperson of the AU panel, Thabo Mbeki, comes also within the framework of this strategy.

The undersecretary urged the international community to create a favorable climate for the Darfur-Darfur dialogue, disclosing he will hold a meeting on 15 January to prepare for this dialogue.

The Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole last week expressed fears that the internal process would hamper the ongoing efforts in Doha and warned that rebel groups would not take part in this enterprise.

He also stressed it was crucial to get Khartoum’s delegation back to the forum to finalize a cessation of hostilities agreement before to resume direct peace talks with the rebel Justice and equality Movement (JEM).

(ST)