ABUJA, 10 December 2004 — Sudanese delegates began arriving in the Nigerian capital Abuja yesterday ahead of the latest round of African Union-sponsored talks on resolving the conflict in the war torn western region of Darfur.
Officials said they hoped that the conference would begin today, but rebel leaders warned that some of their envoys were having travel problems and it was not clear exactly when the welcoming ceremony would be held.
“The expectation of the government is that the meeting will resume tomorrow,” said Remi Oyo, spokeswoman for Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo who as chairman of the African Union is the host of the talks.
Obasanjo “is optimistic that the talks will be successful, just like the previous ones. We do not foresee any problems,” she added.
A second round of talks was suspended last month after representatives of the Khartoum government and two of the Darfur region’s rebel groups agreed to sign protocols that would reinforce a cease-fire and guaranteeing the safety of refugees.
Now, mediators are hoping to cajole the deeply distrustful parties toward a lasting political settlement to the 21-month old conflict, which has left tens of thousands of civilians dead and more than a million homeless.
Abduljabar Dosa, an envoy from the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement, said that his colleagues had begun arriving in Abuja but that six had been held up in London because of delays in issuing them with Nigerian visas.
He said that his group was seeking to speak to AU officials but that they expected some meetings, perhaps informal talks ahead of the main conference, to restart today.
Meanwhile, the AU is “doing its best” in Sudan’s western Darfur region, the president of the continental body’s commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, has said, rejecting criticism that the AU has not deployed cease-fire monitors in the region quickly enough.
“The AU is doing its best. We face difficulties but there are advances such as the Abuja accords which were reached,” Konare said in Addis Ababa.
“While it’s true that there are difficulties in rapidly deploying men on the ground, we are there and we are helping,” Konare insisted.
“I wish well to all those who want the African Union to move aside and the international community to move in,” said Konare, implicitly referring to a statement made Tuesday by the US ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth, who said the international community was “getting nowhere” in easing the crisis in Darfur.
In another development, former Sudanese vice president Joseph Lagu announced yesterday an alliance with the South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF) to pressure Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang de Mabior into signing a peace agreement.
The SSDF, an umbrella of southern militia groups, was formed in 1997 to fight the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, following the signing of the Khartoum Peace agreement between the Sudanese government and six southern militia forces.
