African Peace Council meets Sunday to discuss Darfur conflict

ADDIS ABABA, July 03, 2004 (dpa) — The African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) meets Sunday in Addis Ababa to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the Union’s Commissioner for Peace and Security said Saturday.

Commissioner Said Djinnit said the meeting had been requested by African Union (AU) foreign ministers, meeting in the Ethiopian capital ahead of the union’s July 6-8 summit.

Chairperson of the AU Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, was also expected to brief the PSC on a meeting he attended Friday in the Chadian capital where different parties to the Darfur conflict discussed the urgency of implementing an AU brokered ceasefire agreement.

Participants at the N’djamena meeting between the Sudanese government and the two rebel movements operating in Darfur — the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Movement for Justice and equality (MJE) included the representatives of the pro-government Janjawid militia, the Ceasefire Commission (CFC) that was established by the AU last month, and the government of Chad as well as supporters of the Darfur peace process, including the UN, the European Union, the United States, Britain, Germany and France.

Djinnit also disclosed that a meeting on Darfur was being convened on 15th July at the AU Commission to finalise and sign off a comprehensive peace agreement on Darfur.