Sudanese President commends Qatar, expresses support to its efforts
for peace in Darfur
* Article
* Comments (1)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
March 30, 2011 (DOHA) — Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al Bashir
praised efforts exerted by the State of Qatar to resolve the eight
year conflict in Darfur and agreed to extend the peace talks with the
rebel groups sponsored by the Gulf country.
JPEG - 14.2 kb
Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (R) welcomes Sudanese
President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir upon his arrival at Doha international
airport March 30, 2011 (QNA)
Bashir arrived to Doha twenty four hours after a decree issued in
Khartoum to organize a referendum on Darfur administrative status. The
rebel groups slammed the presidential decision saying it violates the
framework agreements signed in Doha and asked the mediation to stop
it.
"Qatar, with a great patience, endured the [burden of] Darfur
negotiations. No place in the world could bear the negotiations for
all this time, and be patient in the manner demonstrated by the people
of Qatar," Bashir said in a meeting with the Sudanese community in
Doha on Wednesday evening.
"No matter what we say about Qatar, we will never be able to express
our gratitude. All this shows to what extent Qatar and its people are
keen on the stability of Sudan and how much is their love for Sudan,"
he further added.
Bashir also cited the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed
bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud and thanked him for the role he plays in the
peace process.
Foreign minister Ali Karti, stated from Doha that Bashir and the Emir
of Qatar agreed, on the need to exert efforts to reach an inclusive
peace agreement. He said the Doha process is strongly backed by all
the parties.
He added that the process now has the support of a state — he did not
name — which was not very enthusiast during the past period for the
Doha process.
It was not clear whether they agreed to give more time for the process
or to suspend the referendum announced yesterday until the end of the
talks.
The talks between the government and Liberation and Justice Movement
(LJM) are stalled over the issue of Darfur administrative status.
However the government and the rebel group agreed to adopt four
undisputed chapters of the peace deal.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) agreed on three chapters and
with the support of a team of experts provided by the mediation is
negotiating with the government on the wealth sharing chapter.
The mediators are preparing for a big gathering for all the
stakeholders on 18 April. They are also prepares for new rounds of
talks between the government and the two rebel movements on the
pending issues.
The absence of the presidential adviser entrusted with Darfur file,
Ghazi Salah Al-Deen from the presidential delegation was denoted by
many observers. Bashir’s delegation included Karti, minister of
presidential affairs Baki Hassan Salih, and the director of the
security and intelligence services.
The fate of the Doha talks seemed hampered for a time by the adoption
of a new policy aiming to end the conflict by engaging tribal leaders
and civil society organizations. The plan, prepared by Gahzi Salah
Al-Deen, is based on the need to minimize the role of the armed groups
by engaging other forces.
After efforts by the mediation to mobilize regional and international
efforts to support the Doha Forum, the presidential adviser came out
with the idea of a referendum on Darfur administrative status
referring to a peace agreement repudiated even by those who signed it
with the government.
Gahzi also was quite clear in his opposition to the negotiations with
the rebel groups when he went to describe the Doha process as "market
of watermelon". The statement was perceived as rude and disrespectful
by the Qatari officials who invested much of time to keep all the
parties on board in order to reach a durable settlement for the
conflict.
The regime change in Egypt and the probable positive outcome of the
armed revolution in Libya remove regional obstacles hampering the
two-year efforts of the Joint Chief Mediator Djirbil Bassole and Qatar
to reach a successful conclusion of the talks between the government
and rebels.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
