A.U. to discuss sending ceasefire monitors to western Sudan

ADDIS ABABA, May 21, 2004 (dpa) — The deployment of military observers to monitor the ceasefire in Darfur, western Sudan, will be discussed at an meeting next week, said the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Said Djinnit, at a press conference Friday.

Recently there have been repeated allegations of breaches of the ceasefire.

Starting next Wednesday, the two-day meeting of the Darfur Ceasefire Commission is set to work out details for monitoring, investigating and verifying allegations of violations of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the A.U. was signed on April 8 in N’djamena, Chad, by the Sudanese government and the two rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement.

Djinnit said next week’s meeting of the Ceasefire Commission with the representatives of the Sudanese government and the rebels would work out detailed arrangements for the deployment of 60 African military observers in 7 places to monitor the ceasefire, including 5 within Darfur, 1 at Abeche in Chad and a liaison office in Khartoum.

The meeting was arranged after consulting international partners in the Chadian government, the United Nations, European Union and the United States.

“We have the commitment of both parties to observe the ceasefire and to facilitate the delivery of urgently-needed humanitarian assistance,” he said.

The ceasefire agreement outlines ways of dealing with allegations of violations.

Djinnit also indicated that Darfur would be one of the priority conflict situations in Africa slated to be reviewed by the 15-nation A.U. Peace and Security Council at its formal launch Tuesday, coinciding with Africa Day.

Africa Day marks the signing of the Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the A.U. on May 25, 1963 in Addis Ababa.