U.S., Africa Step Up Darfur Peace Drive

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From Khartoum, the Sudan Tribune reports that a high-level African Union Panel on Darfur led by the former South African President Thabo Mbeki was scheduled to visit the country beginning August 22 for talks with government officials, civil society groups and and Darfur rebel groups. The panel is tasked with ending the conflict and promoting justice and reconciliation.

From Cairo, the Tribune reported that President Obama’s envoy, Major-General Scott Gration held talks with Sudanese, Egyptian and Libyan officials in the Egyptian capital on August 23 to coordinate peace efforts.

The newspaper quoted Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki as saying the talks provided an opportunity "to discuss progress of the talks between the different Sudanese parties and… for realizing peace and stability in Sudan, including the Darfur issue and the relations between the north and the south."

Agence France-Presse quoted Gration as praising the roles of both Egypt and Libya in the talks. "I’m very impressed and very grateful to the role that the Libyans are playing not only in rebel unification but in bringing peace between Chad and Sudan," AFP reported Gration as saying. Gration was speaking at the end of his latest diplomatic foray to the region. Beginning August 17, he travelled to Sudan and Ethiopia as well as Egypt on the fourth such trip since his appointment in March.

On August 19, he witnessed the signing of a bilateral agreement in Juba, Southern Sudan, which he had helped mediate between leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Khartoum‘s ruling National Congress Party (NCP), in pursuance of the 2005 peace agreement between the south and the Khartoum government.

The U.S. State Department said the agreement committed both parties to "a series of timed benchmarks for implementing key aspects of the [agreement], including border demarcation and election preparation." The State Department said Gration would return to Juba in September for consultations on unresolved issues.

Source: Allafrica