AU prepares next round of talks on Darfur crisis

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Feb 28, 2005 (PANA) — An African Union (AU) mediation delegation is consulting Sudanese parties involved in the Darfur regional conflict on the resumption of peace talks as soon as possible, the AU Commission said here Monday.

Sudanese woman refugee arriving from Labado protects herself from the wind at Kalma Camp, near Nyala in Sudan’s South Darfur region 09 January 2005. (AFP).

The mediation team is working towards a political solution to the conflict in Darfur.

Ambassador Sam Ibok, representative of AU Commission Chairperson to the Sudanese political talks, is heading the team that comprises officials from the AU and Chad.

The mediation team was consulting Sudanese parties on the best way to rapidly resume the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria as called for by the AU highest policy organs, said a statement issued by the Commission.

Other members of the team are Ambassador Allam-Mi Ahmed, Special Adviser to the President of Chad; Boubou Niang, political adviser to the AU Special Envoy for Darfur; Dr. Dawit Toga, political analyst at the AU Conflict Management Centre; and Fanklyn Kargbo, a senior legal officer.

After a three-day visit to Khartoum, the team on Monday headed for Asmara in Eritrea for consultations with leaders of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

SLM/A and JEM are the main opposition to the Sudanese government in the strife-torn Darfur region.

While in Khartoum, the delegation held a series of meetings with government officials, including Agriculture minister, Magzoub El Khalifa, and two ministers of State for Foreign Affairs, Najeeb Al Khair and El Tijani Fidail.

Besides reviewing the security situation in Darfur, the
delegation and the government side discussed various issues
regarding the preparation for the next round of the peace talks in Abuja.

The AU mediation team informed the government that at the end of its consultations, a draft framework protocol on the resolution of the conflict in Darfur would be prepared in the light of the positions expressed by the parties.

The team also consulted, on the same subject, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the Sudan as well as ambassadors and representatives of AU’s international partners based in Khartoum.