African Union to contact Sudan in effort to revive Darfur mediation

ADDIS ABABA, July 19, 2004 (dpa) — The African Union (AU) said Monday it would intensify its contact with the Sudanese government and the two rebel movements involved in the Darfur conflict in a bid to revive mediation between the two sides.

In a statement, the AU and the United Nations, which is also mediating the talks, said they would work towards a “comprehensive political settlement of the crisis”.

Political dialogue collapsed Saturday when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and equality Movement (JEM) informed the mediators that there was no point in holding talks as long as the government refused to meet their demands.

They said these demands were included in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement both sides signed last April in N’Djamena, Chad, that called for disarming the Janjaweed militia and facilitating access of food and medical assistance to Darfur.

A new demand set by the rebels as a precondition for peace concerns the establishment of an international commission to identify and bring to justice those responsible for alleged crimes perpetrated against the population of Darfur.

The Sudanese government made it clear to the mediators it could not give a specific time for disarming militia groups in Darfur, as there were other militia groups in the region apart from the Janjaweed.

The Khartoum delegation also claimed that it had already been implementing the N’Djamena agreement, including facilitating access of humanitarian aid.

The statement issued by the mediators noted that both parties “strongly underlined that progress in the implementation of the agreement was crucial to creating a conducive atmosphere for progress in political talks”.

The mediators said that there was an urgent need to accelerate the implementation process.