Sudan hopes to see a final draft peace agreement at Darfur conference
May 21, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen said the mediation has agreed to submit the final draft peace agreement to the stakeholders conference which will take place next Friday 27 May.
Ghazi returned on Saturday from Doha where he met with Burkina Faso’s foreign minister and Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole and the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud and Tijani El-Sissi, leader of the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).
“We encouraged the mediation to go ahead and to finalize the final draft peace agreement, Gahzi told reporters after his arrival to Khartoum Airport on Saturday morning. He further emphasized that the mediation promised to prepare the draft peace agreement.
Sudanese officials said they hope to sign a peace deal with LJM rebels they also expressed hopes that the signing could take place before or after 27 May meeting. Officials from the government and the rebel group said they agreed over 95% of the peace deal.
The government is now more optimistic because there will be a consensus and this will reflect positively on Darfur, Ghazi pointed out.
The Presidential adviser during his visit to Doha meant to meet LJM leader Tijani EL-Sissi to encourage him to conclude a partial peace deal without the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which demands direct talks on several chapters of the proposed peace deal.
Ghazi in statements to the Qatari press said JEM has an opportunity to catch up with the peace process because they might not have another occasion like this again.
JEM rebels on Saturday denounced Gahzi’s statements and accused him of trying to put pressures on the mediation to conclude the process and present a final draft peace agreement by the end of May.
“After his arrival to the venue of the peace process, the first thing he did that he determined the end of the month for the signing of a peace deal and threatened to withdraw from the talks,” said JEM Vice-President and head of delegation in statement released Saturday.
Envoy of the international community who follow closely the Doha process believe that a partial peace agreement would complicate further the resolution of the eight year conflict in Darfur.
The government said it is waiting the end of the Doha process to launch another internal process associating civil society, tribal leaders and IDPs. The head of the African Union Panel for Sudan prepares also to hold a similar process supported by the government.
(ST)