AL, AU press for political solution to Darfur crisis

CAIRO, Aug 8, 2004 (Xinhua) — The Arab League (AL) and the African Union (AU) on Sunday pressed for a political solution to the Darfur crisis.

“Arab foreign ministers refuse threat of military intervention in Darfur or the imposition of sanctions on Sudan,” said a statement issued after an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the crisis in the strife-ravaged region in Sudan.

The statement asked Arab countries on the African continent to contribute to a cease-fire monitoring team and the protection forces of the AU.

It appealed to the international community to give the Sudanese government enough time to prove that it could fulfill its commitments to the United Nations.

Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said the Darfur issue could be settled within humanitarian, security and political frameworks.

“The first will be the humanitarian one through extending relief assistance to the needy people in Darfur,” Ismail told reporters after a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Abul Gheit.

The second will be the security one with Arab countries’ support for the Sudanese government’s capability to control the situation in Darfur by deploying armed forces and policemen in the entire region and the third will be the political one, he said.

For his part, AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said at the opening ceremony of the meeting that there was no need to seek military solution to the Darfur crisis.

“The Darfur crisis could only be solved through political means, ” he said while urging the Sudanese government to work with the AU and the international community as a whole to solve the problem.

He disclosed that the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur were expected to restart peace talks in Nigeria later this month.

In July, under the support of the AU, the peace talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army ended without progress in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

The rebel groups took up arms against the government in February last year because they claimed that their region was neglected by the Sudanese government.

The United Nations considers Darfur as a place with the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world, which has left up to 10, 000 people dead and some 1 million displaced.

On July 30, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution, giving Sudan 30 days to disarm the Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, which was blamed for atrocities in Darfur, otherwise it will face international sanctions.

Egypt, a strong supporter of the Khartoum government, has called for giving Sudan more time to solve the Darfur crisis.

“The Darfur crisis is very complicated, and I can not imagine that any country, even the United States, can solve this crisis within 30 days,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Sunday.

He said Sudan was working to respond to the resolution, adding that the deadline could be extended from 30 days to 90 days and even 120 days, as long as Sudan acts with the resolution.

Before the emergency meeting, UN chief Kofi Annan’s envoy Jan Pronk told reporters that “Security will not come about only through the efforts of the (Sudanese) government, but also the international community, by offering financial and human support through the presence of international observers, notably Arab and African.”

Pronk said the United Nations had not asked the Sudanese government to restore security in Darfur but to make tangible progress within 30 days.