Friday, March 24, 2006

Obasanjo, Salim restate commitment to Darfur peace talks
From Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja

SPURRED by the need to conclude the Abuja peace talks on Darfur by the April 30 deadline set by the African Union (AU), President Olusegun Obasanjo met on Tuesday night with the continental body's special envoy on Darfur, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim.

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A commitment secured at the end of the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, pledged Nigeria's continuous commitment to the peace process. The assurance is seen by diplomatic watchers as a big relief to the AU mediation team in Abuja owing to the threat of sanctions and possible withdrawal by the international partners to the talks, due to continuous violations of the humanitarian cease-fire agreement.

Nigeria and Libya are the dual facilitators of the Abuja peace talks, which began two years ago and has just entered its most critical phase - the seventh round.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by the mediation team's spokesman, Noureddine Mezni, said the meeting of Obasanjo with Salim took place "against the backdrop of the 46th meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council held on 10 March 2006, to discuss the conflict in Darfur and AU's response, both on the ground where AU forces are currently deployed and in Abuja, where the AU is leading the peace process"

During the last meeting of the Steering Committee for the talks that brought together, leaders of all the parties, appeals were made for the continued engagement of AU leaders in general and President Obasanjo in particular, in order to move the parties towards a speedy political settlement of the conflict in Darfur.

According to the statement, the chief mediator, who was accompanied by the Head of the AU Mediation Team, Ambassador Sam Ibok, briefed the President on the current status of the talks, with particular reference to the aspects dealing with security and the enhancement of the Humanitarian Cease-fire Agreement, as well as Power and Wealth Sharing issues that are still outstanding.

At the end of the meeting, President Obasanjo reassured Dr. Salim of his "continued engagement with the process and his readiness to assist the parties in every possible way to reach an early agreement."

The statement quoted Obasanjo to have emphasised further that leaders of the continent are determined to bring the conflict in Darfur to an end "sooner rather than later," in order to save lives and to ensure that "people of Darfur can rebuild their lives by focusing on reconstruction or reconciliation in their homeland."

At the end of the AU's Peace and Security meeting on Monday in Tripoli, Libya on the need to respect the February 8th agreement between Sudan and Chad, it charged the contending parties to be wary of the elasticity of the patience of international partners.