Sudan declines to comment on US rejection of Darfur referendum
April 3, 2011 (Khartoum) – Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen who is tasked with Darfur file, declined today to react to the US rejection of a referendum over the administrative status in the region announced last March.
The government resorted to this procedure, at the beginning of March, as its delegation in Doha refuses to accept the establishment of a regional authority in Darfur — creating a new echelon of power to supervise Darfur states and represent the region at the national level.
President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in his presidential decree on March 29 related to the organization of the referendum omitted to determine the date of the referendum. Legal experts says the government has to announce the referendum six months before its organization and to perform it three months after the beginning of the voter registration.
Asked after a meeting of the National Congress Party (NCP) political sector Sunday on Darfur held in the party’s premises, Ghazi refused to comment on the remarks made by the US envoy for Darfur.
“I do not want to respond to him now,” Ghazi told reporters when he was asked about Dan’s statements.
The presidential adviser went to say that Darfur Joint Chief Mediator, Djibril Bassole did not yet finalize the final peace agreement stressing “in the absence of a new document abrogating the old document (Abuja agreement) we are committed to the documents that we signed in the past”.
The government says the referendum is stipulated in Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May 2006 with the rebel Minni Minnawi who denounced this pact accusing Khartoum of failing to implement some protocols related to the security arrangements and the regional authority.
Despite Ghazi statements, Sudanese Vice president, Ali Osman Taha, renewed today the commitment of his government to negotiate a peaceful solution to the eight conflict in Darfur with the rebel groups in Doha.
Taha made these reassurances during a meeting with the visiting Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dirk Niebel, according to the official Suna.
He echoed Bashir’s commitments to the Doha process during a visit to discuss the peace process with Qatari Emir last week. Bashir during his visit, conducted without Ghazi’ presence among the accompanying delegation, reaffirmed his commitment to the talks with the rebels without referring to the referendum decree he signed two days before.
The presidential adviser since he is charged with the complex file of Darfur seemed privileging other options than talks with the rebels to bring peace in the region. Last July he put out a new strategy to bring peace in Darfur through direct dialogue between tribal leaders and civil society organizations.
The former US envoy for Sudan Scott Gration, who had tumultuous relations with the rebel groups, also encouraged Ghazi in his new approach.
Rebel groups say every time they make some progress in Doha Ghazi come out with something disturbing the process.
Last December, he decided to withdraw government’s delegation from Doha where the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) resumed negotiations after five months of boycott. But, President Bashir directed the return of the negotiating team last February.
(ST)