Qatari state minister arrives in Khartoum for talks on Darfur peace process
February 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud arrived on Wednesday evening to Khartoum for talks with the Sudanese President and officials over the Darfur peace process in Doha.
The Sudanese government said it is moving to settle the eight-year conflict enforce through a new approach consisting of direct dialogue among local actors, tribal leaders, civil society groups and elected organs. It also aims to close camps and relocate internally displaced people (IDPs) to their villages or new settlements.
The government said it counts on the mediation in Doha to conclude an agreement with the rebels but refused last December a package of proposals made by the mediators to narrow the gaps between the delegations of the government and one of the armed groups, the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), on pending issues particularly the power sharing file.
“We are now in the final stages of formulating a document for lasting peace in Darfur,” Al-Mahmoud told reporters in Khartoum Wednesday after his arrival. He said his visit comes within the framework of shuttle diplomacy engaged by the mediators ever since the withdrawal of the government delegation from the venue of the talks last December.
The Qatari minister will meet President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen who is in charge with Darfur file and Amin Hassan Omer, head of government’s delegation for the peace negotiations.
The two rebel groups participating in the process LJM and Justice and Equality Movement agreed to work together for peace in Darfur. However, Khartoum criticized the Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole because he welcomed the rebels’ understanding saying the armed movements cited “genocide” in Darfur in their statement.
Besides the pending issues related to the status of the region and the position of vice-president of the republic demanded by the rebel groups and rejected by the government, Al-Mahmoud is expected to discuss the talks between the government and JEM.
The two parties have to finalize a truce before they begin to engage direct negotiations. The government and JEM have also to agree on whether to start a new process or to resume from the text of talks between the government and the LJM.
In West Darfur, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen said today that the peace process in Darfur enters a new phase underscoring that it “will depend on what Sudanese do at home”.
The presidential adviser, in a rally held in El-Geneina on Wednesday, called to accelerate the peace process in Darfur and achieve it before next July in order to draft a permanent constitution for the country, he said.
He also reiterated the government determination to develop Darfur and to enact justice in the war-ravaged region.
During a visit to Darfur town of El-Fasher on Tuesday, Ghazi hailed efforts exerted by the hybrid peacekeeping operation (UNAMID) to protect civilians and to create a suitable atmosphere for the internal peace process.
(ST)