Sudanese Government Agrees to Delay Darfur Peace Talks
October 30, 2007 (SIRTE, Libya) — The Sudanese government’s top peace negotiator today agreed to postpone Darfur peace talks in order to allow more time to rebel groups to come to the table of negotiations with one position.
After reticence during the two first days and following a meeting with the UN-AU mediation team headed buy Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, Sudanese Presidential Assistant, Nafi Ali Nafi, said in press statements in Sirte he agreed to give more time for rebel consultations adding he requested the mediation to accord a reasonable delay.
The rebel groups including those who are in Sirte demanded the adjournment of the current peace talks for peace in Darfur to unify their positions. Others, as Justice and Equality Movement want mediators to postpone the talks and fix with them some issues like the format and who participate in the talks.
The Sudanese official said the mediators and the government delegation have similar points of view over this issue. He pointed out that the initial programme of the mediation encompasses a series of workshops dedicated to rebels’ reunification before the start of the substantial negotiations.
Eliasson and Salim said in a press conference on October 28 that they had planned for a three weeks of workshops on discussion and preparations at the end of the first week in Sirte.
Nafi reaffirmed that this delay doesn’t mean the adjournment of the talks but the implementation of a planned calendar set by the mediation.
He further said he agreed with mediation to discuss separately the topics of the talks or altogether in the same time. He disclosed government delegation prefers to discuss the sharing of power and wealth with the security issues in the same time.
The joint mediation announced yesterday that envoys would depart to Darfur and Juba to meet the recalcitrant rebel groups to convince them to participate in the negotiations.
Eight rebel factions, including the most important, are staying away from the Libya talks, casting a pall over the bid to end slaughter which is estimated to have killed 200,000 in four years and displaced two million. Khartoum puts the death toll much lower.
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