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Talks on Sudan’s Darfur region to begin July 15: AU chief
N’DJAMENA, July 2 (AFP) — Negotiations between the warring parties in Sudan’s western region of Darfur are to begin on July 15 in Addis Ababa, the president of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare, announced.
“The problem with Darfur is political, its solution is political, hence the necessity for the parties to quickly begin political negotiations… on July 15 in Addis Ababa,” the Ethiopian capital, Konare said in N’djamena, where a commission tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in Darfur has been set up.
“We hope that all the parties are properly represented, that those who come on behalf of their parties are high-level representatives and are duly authorized to do so,” he said.
The United Nations has labelled the situation in Darfur the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.
At least 10,000 people have been killed there since fighting broke out in February last year, when black African rebel groups rose up against the Arab government in Khartoum.
Ndjamena brokered talks between Darfur rebels and the government in Khartoum which resulted in a ceasefire in April 8.
The Sudanese government delegation and representatives of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) then held talks in the Chadian capital in late April on “political issues.” But they ended only with an agreement to meet again at an unspecified date, and no further talks have so far taken place.
“The unfolding of this situation is in our hands, it can unfold negatively if we do not voluntarily commit ourselves, it can unfold negatively if we are duplicitous, if we are manipulative,” said Konare.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan this week visited Darfur and refugee camps in neighbouring Chad. On Thursday, he urged the international community to work closely with Chad to try to quickly find a political solution to the war.
“We must find a political solution as soon as possible, or we could experience a regional tragedy,” Annan told reporters in Ndjamena after holding talks with President Idriss Deby of Chad.
“We, the international community, will do everything to work with the Sudanese government and President Deby who has begun negotiations to find a solution and appease the situation, because if not, the tragedy we are witnessing now will be nothing compared to that which is looming,” Annan warned.
But both sides have accused the other of repeatedly violating the ceasefire, with the most recent accusations coinciding with Annan’s arrival in the region, as Darfur rebels accused the Sudanese air force of bombing three villages in the western part of Sudan.
Khartoum counter-accused the rebels of attacking one of its army units in Darfur.
Chad has taken in some 120,000 refugees from Darfur, leaving itself open to cross-border attacks by marauding, pro-Khartoum militias.
“The problem with Darfur is political, its solution is political, hence the necessity for the parties to quickly begin political negotiations… on July 15 in Addis Ababa,” the Ethiopian capital, Konare said in N’djamena, where a commission tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in Darfur has been set up.
“We hope that all the parties are properly represented, that those who come on behalf of their parties are high-level representatives and are duly authorized to do so,” he said.
The United Nations has labelled the situation in Darfur the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.
At least 10,000 people have been killed there since fighting broke out in February last year, when black African rebel groups rose up against the Arab government in Khartoum.
Ndjamena brokered talks between Darfur rebels and the government in Khartoum which resulted in a ceasefire in April 8.
The Sudanese government delegation and representatives of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) then held talks in the Chadian capital in late April on “political issues.” But they ended only with an agreement to meet again at an unspecified date, and no further talks have so far taken place.
“The unfolding of this situation is in our hands, it can unfold negatively if we do not voluntarily commit ourselves, it can unfold negatively if we are duplicitous, if we are manipulative,” said Konare.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan this week visited Darfur and refugee camps in neighbouring Chad. On Thursday, he urged the international community to work closely with Chad to try to quickly find a political solution to the war.
“We must find a political solution as soon as possible, or we could experience a regional tragedy,” Annan told reporters in Ndjamena after holding talks with President Idriss Deby of Chad.
“We, the international community, will do everything to work with the Sudanese government and President Deby who has begun negotiations to find a solution and appease the situation, because if not, the tragedy we are witnessing now will be nothing compared to that which is looming,” Annan warned.
But both sides have accused the other of repeatedly violating the ceasefire, with the most recent accusations coinciding with Annan’s arrival in the region, as Darfur rebels accused the Sudanese air force of bombing three villages in the western part of Sudan.
Khartoum counter-accused the rebels of attacking one of its army units in Darfur.
Chad has taken in some 120,000 refugees from Darfur, leaving itself open to cross-border attacks by marauding, pro-Khartoum militias.