Sudan’s Bashir praises continued Qatari efforts for peace in Darfur
May 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – President Omer al-Bashir on Saturday evening met with the visiting Qatari deputy prime minister and praised the efforts exerted by his country to achieve peace in Darfur. He further hailed its continued support for the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).
“Al-Bashir expressed his appreciation for the great Qatari role that has paved the way for concrete results in term of peace achievement and the evolution of the security situation in Darfur as well as the full implementation of the Doha agreement” said the head of Darfur peace implementation office, Amin Hassan Omer after the meeting.
Amin said that the meeting discussed the desire of some rebel group to hold a meeting in Doha to discuss ways to complete peace and join the DDPD
“But the matter is still under consideration,” he stressed.
Last Month, the leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement Girbril Ibrahim and Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minnawi discussed with African Union mediation team in Addis Ababa a joint position paper they plan to prepare to hand over to the Qatari deputy prime minister as it was agreed in a previous meeting in Paris last January.
The DDPD was signed on 11 July 2011 between the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) of Tijani al-Sissi and the Justice and Equality Movement splinter faction led by Bakheit Abdel- Karim Dabajo (JEM-Dabajo) joined the deal on 6 April 2013.
In press statements upon arrival, the Qatari minister renewed his country’s keenness to continue its efforts to achieve peace in Darfur, stressing they would follow-up on the implementation of the various aspects of the agreement.
He welcomed any armed group wishing to join the DDPD, saying “our hearts are open to the armed movements and we welcome those who want to join the DDPD as a basis for peace in Darfur”.
Al-Mahmoud said the 11th meeting of the of the follow-up committee for the DDPD implementation would discuss the recent developments in the peace process.
He congratulated the Sudanese people for holding the Darfur Administrative Referendum (DAR) last April as part of the DDPD requirements.
“We thank all the signatories of the DDPD and [particularly] the government and the LJM for honoring their commitment to the provisions of the document including the timely holding of the referendum at its appointed time,” he said.
In accordance with DDPD, Darfur residents voted during three days (from 11-to 13 April) to determine whether they want to keep the current separate five states or re-establish one region. 97 per cent of the voters chose to retain the status quo states system.
The three main rebel groups fighting in Darfur, the JEM, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) led by Minni Minnawi, and the (SLM-AW) led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur boycotted the referendum and accused the government of rigging the vote in its favour to keep Darfur split into several states.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s minister of international cooperation Kamal Hassan Ali has praised Qatar’s continuing political, economic and social support for Sudan.
Ali, who participated in the meeting of the joint mechanism between Sudan and Arab League (AL) Friday in Doha, said they discussed ways to support the implementation of humanitarian and development projects in Sudan.
The Sudanese minister pointed the meeting discussed the AL resolution to hold a special conference to support the humanitarian and development work in Sudan during this year, saying he briefed the meeting on the projects which have been implemented so far.
(ST)