AU Special Envoy to Darfur

(PANA)-African Union (AU) Special Envoy to Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim, has urged all parties to the Darfur crisis to come on board for peace talks to succeed, saying there is also need for a greater coalition of rebel movements so they can present a strong position to the Sudanese government.

In a telephone interview with PANA Friday, Salim said consultations had been going on for several weeks now in an effort to intensify talks with the various rebel groups.

Salim and his UN counterpart have been overseeing peace talks which started in Sirte, Libya, 27 October.

Two key rebel groups have boycotted the talks, forcing the mediators to delay the hard negotiations while reaching out to the groups.

“We are still consulting, but realistically, we are doing our very best so that when the talks resume, the talks are attended by as many parties as possible,” Salim said.

He said major factions had attended the Arusha consultations in August, and that consultations would also be held with Chad, Egypt, Eritrea and Libya “on when and how best to continue with the process.”

Salim, a former OAU Secretary General, however said the Libya talks had achieved the intended purpose of consultation, as required in the first phase, especially with the Sudanese government announcing a unilateral cease-fire at the opening.

“I have always insisted on the importance of ending violence because of the destruction and the deaths of innocent civilians especially women and children.

“I have said to the Sudanese government that it has to ensure that it concentrat es on the declaration it made and implement this. We want government to implement what it has said and the movement to reciprocate.

“Whether it can be achieved is a different story. The government can be judged by its actions on the ground,” Salim said.

On whether African countries have the political will to address the conflicts on the continent, Salim said there was “quantitative improvement” by African countries to deal with conflicts.

He explained that in the past, it was seen as a taboo to interfere in the internal affairs of another country, but said this “myth or position” had dramatically changed and that African countries had taken up the responsibility to deal with conflicts.

“The creation of the AU security and peace council has put up this huge responsibility. But a number of efforts made have not been successful because largely due to lack of resources and political will,” the AU envoy said.

He said, however, that the issues of peace and security were not the responsibility of Africa alone, and called on the international community to do more to address conflicts in Africa in the spirit of ‘shared responsibility’.

“But African countries can do more than now. I certainly believe African countri eshave potential capability to do more, capacity and potential (are) much greater,” Salim said

He said there was need to put more pressure on Khartoum and the rebel groups so that a lasting solution could be found as soon as possible to the crisis which has left an estimated 200,000 dead and over 2 million displaced since it started in 2003.

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