Quartet meeting on Sudan peace process to start in Egypt

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Apr 19, 2005 (Xinhua) — Leaders of Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia will hold a meeting to discuss the peace process in Sudan on Tuesday, an Egyptian official said.

Egyptian Foreign Minster Ahmad Aboul Gheit (L) meets with his counterparts Mustafa Osman Ismail (C) of Sudan and Seyoum Mesfin of Ethiopia in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh prior to the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) summit hosted by Egypt, April 18, 2005. (AFP) .

“Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will hold a summit to discuss the peace process in Sudan,” Egyptian presidential spokesman Soliman Awad told reporters.

The meeting will focus on measures to support the Sudanese government to achieve peace across the country, he said.

He said that the leaders would pledge support for a peace agreement signed between the Sudanese government and southern rebels in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Jan. 9.

The peace deal virtually brings an end to a 21-year civil war in Sudan pitting the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the south, the longest in the African continent.

The summit will also discuss the latest development in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, another troubled spot, said the spokesman.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian leaders wrapped up a three-way meeting on the Darfur crisis.

The participation of Nigeria, which holds the current African Union chairmanship, in the meeting is set to consolidate Egypt’s efforts to solve the Darfur crisis.

Egypt has long been a mediator in Sudan’s peace process. President Mubarak attended a five-way African summit on the Darfur issue hosted by Libya in October 2004.

Egypt has pledged 10 million US dollars in aid to Sudan at a donors conference held in Oslo, Norway, earlier this month.

Egypt has also hosted several rounds of talks between the Sudanese government and the National Democratic Alliance, an opposition umbrella group.