Promoting regional peace dominates Annan’s visit to Kenya
NAIROBI, July 9, 2004 (Xinhua) — Efforts to boost peace in Sudan and Somalia were among the highlights of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s two-day official visit to Kenya, the last stop on his tour of Africa.
During his stay in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on July 7-8, Annan met respectively with the two Kenyan negotiators in Sudan and Somali peace talks, Lazarus Sumbeiywo and Bethwel Kiplagat as well as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, whose country is holding the ongoing Sudan and Somalia peace talks.
At a press conference on Thursday, the secretary general called an urgent resolution of conflict in western Sudan’s Darfur region, saying the crisis is a big challenge to a lasting peace in the country.
“The situation in Darfur has to be dealt with quickly, otherwise Sudan cannot talk in terms of comprehensive peace even though the north-south negotiations have gone extremely well whichare on the verge of being concluded,” Annan told reporters.
The UN chief warned that the crisis in Darfur could destabilize the region and reminded Sudan that it had a duty to protect its citizens.
Meanwhile, when talking about the Somali issue, Annan told the peace talks’ parties that “I am spending only a short time in Kenya, but I wanted to come here to demonstrate the full support of the United Nations for the historic effort you are making to bring lasting peace to Somalia.”
“I urge you to do everything in your power to achieve the goal set by IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development ) Ministers for this conference: to establish an inclusive governance structure by July 31. At this important juncture, I also call on the international community to provide prompt support so that Somalia’s new governmental structure will receive the crucial support it needs in its early days. Somalia cannot afford another false start,” he added.
The Sudanese civil war started in 1983 when the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) took up arms fighting for self-determination in the southern part of the country, which has left some 2 million people dead, mostly through war-induced famine and disease.
The Sudanese government and the SPLM/A began peace talks in March 1994 in Kenya. The parties in May, 2004 signed key peace protocols on power sharing, the three conflict areas, paving the way for a full ceasefire and implementation pact to end a war that has cut Africa’s biggest country in two for over two decades.
Together with the previously signed accords on wealth sharing and establishing a six-year interim period for the southerners to make their own political choice, they are as a whole being widely regarded as a milestone on the road to ending the longest civil war on the African continent.
Somalia dissolved into chaos after the 1991 ousting of strongman Mohammed Siad Barre. The transitional national government, set up in 2000, controls only part of the capital and parts of the rest of the country.
Since September 2002, factional leaders have begun the Somali National Reconciliation Conference in Kenya.
Annan expressed optimism that the conflicts in Sudan and in Somalia will soon be resolved after sustained international peace efforts in the two countries spearheaded by Kenya.
“I appeal to you to rise above your differences, and do all youcan to bring your people an era of security, peace and hope” he said.
He also lauded Kenya for its role in resolving regional conflicts, saying that “I wish to thank President Kibaki and the government of Kenya for the efforts in shepherding the peace processes in Sudan and in Somalia. I particularly note that this efforts resulted in the recent signing of a peace protocol on Sudan here in Kenya.”
Annan came to Kenya from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after attending the third African Union Summit, which was held on July 6-8.
He flew to Ethiopia from Sudan where he had gone to get firsthand assessment of Darfur crisis which his officials described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.