EU, ACP parliamentarians insist on ‘global’ peace deal for Sudan

THE HAGUE, Nov 25 (AFP) — The joint parliamentary assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc of poor and developing nations and the European Union (EU) ended here Thursday, with delegates passing a resolution calling for a comprehensive peace deal for Sudan.

The resolution “emphasises that a comprehensive peace agreement will contribute towards sustainable peace and stability throughout Sudan and to the efforts to address the crisis in Darfur”.

Delegates at the assembly, which began Monday, also called for a halt to the sale of weapons to all sides in Sudan’s conflicts, and for the main perpetrators of the violence and crimes related to the wars to be identified and brought to justice.

EU development aid to Sudan — some 450 million euros (600 million dollars) — will remain blocked until a peace pact is signed and implemented in Sudan.

The resolution also calls for a fact-finding mission to evaluate the situation in Sudan. It was passed unanimously, but “after long and difficult negotiations,” one observer said.

None of the parties at the assembly objected to the resolution — including the Sudanese government delegation, the observer said.

The government in Khartoum is due Friday to go into what should be the final straight of talks with southern-based rebels to end a 21-year war in Sudan.

The country has also been hit since February last year by a conflict in the western region of Darfur, which the UN has said has given rise to the world’s current worst humanitarian crisis.

Khartoum was not directly implicated in the resolution for the violence in Sudan