US diplomat to discuss peace with Darfur rebels ArticleComments (0). Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 16, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Dane Smith, U.S. Senior Advisor for Darfur, will meet with Darfur rebels to discuss ways to conclude peace with the government and to end their armed revolt in the region since about nine years ago. Dane Smith talks to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs of the State of Qatar Ahmed Bin Abdulla Al Mahmoud in El Fasher 16 Jan 2012 (Reuters)The US diplomat disclosed the information on Monday after a meeting with North Darfur governor Osman Kibir in El Fasher where he participated in the second meeting of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) Implementation Follow-Up Commission. Dane told reporters he will head from Darfur to Kampala, Kigali and Abuja to meet Minni Minnawi, the leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels who are preparing to elect a new leader after the death of Khalil Ibrahim. He stressed he will encourage them to join the ongoing efforts to end the armed conflict in Darfur. he also reiterated that rebels’ claims to topple the regime will not help to bring peace in Darfur or the whole country. The US special envoy Princeton Lyman and Smith believe that the coalition between Darfur rebels and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) and their plans to overthrow the regime might keep tension between Sudan and South Sudan and lead to war in the region. Dane Smith said US administration encouraged non signatories to develop political objectives on the basis of the DDPD, stressing that this framework documents contains the key elements for peace in Darfur. He also called on the Sudanese government to show more flexibility with the rebels stressing that the persisting calls for peace from Darfurians and international community should be seen as positive factors to push the parties for dialogue. The follow-um meeting called on Darfur rebels to commit themselves to a negotiated solution based on the DDPD and "expressed deep concern about the belligerent rhetoric" of the holdout groups and their call for violent overthrow of the government. The Qatari state minister Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud said in a press conference after the meeting that all the members of the follow-up commission reiterated their support to the Doha document The follow-up meeting, held at the UNMAID premises, was attended by the Burkina Faso foreign minister and former joint mediator Djibril Bassolé, Chad’s foreign minister Moussa Faki and a number of diplomats from EU, China, Russia and African and Arab states. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" 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/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
