UN and African Union envoys convene ‘pre-negotiation’ talks on Darfur

The United Nations and African Union envoys tasked with reviving the Darfur peace process are preparing for talks starting this evening with leading figures from rebel groups that have not signed a key agreement aimed at bringing an end to the violence wracking the Sudanese region.

The UN’s Jan Eliasson and his AU counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim were hopeful that three-day meeting “will produce understandings that will allow for invitations to peace talks on Darfur to be issued by the end of this month,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters.

The “pre-negotiation” talks are being held in Arusha, Tanzania, with those rebel groups that did not join in the Darfur Peace Agreement reached with the Sudanese Government last year.

Last week the two envoys issued a statement describing the Arusha meeting’s objective as “to take stock of the progress made in the Road-map and for the Special Envoys to consult with the movements on the preparations for the upcoming final negotiations.”

The talks are also supposed to focus on “the key role to be played by the Sudanese parties concerned in ensuring a speedy, negotiated and sustainable settlement of the Darfur conflict, including the format and venue of and participation in the negotiations.”

Earlier this week the Security Council authorized the creation of a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force – the first of its kind – to try to quell the violence in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and two million others forced to flee their homes since 2003.

The hybrid operation – to be known as UNAMID – has an initial mandate of 12 months and will incorporate the existing AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), which has been deployed across Darfur since 2004. It will become the largest peacekeeping force in the world, with almost 26,000 troops and police officers when it reaches full deployment.

By October UNAMID is scheduled to have its management, command and control structures in place, and then by the end of the year it is expected to be ready to take over operations from AMIS.

Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute is chairing a meeting of troop-contributing countries for UNAMID at UN Headquarters in New York today.

Since fighting erupted between rebel groups, Government forces and allied Janjaweed militias in 2003, UN officials have repeatedly described Darfur as the scene of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In his latest progress report on the situation in Darfur, released today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he was encouraged by the Sudanese Government’s agreement to the deployment of UNAMID.

The Government’s cooperation will be crucial to the operation’s success, “especially with regard to the provision of adequate land, permission to drill for water and the timely clearance of critical mission-support items through customs.”

But he says he remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian and security conditions inside Darfur, particularly for women and girls, who are frequently the victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Sudanese armed forces also resumed their aerial bombardment of areas in North and West Darfur during April and May, and launched ground attacks with the help of armed militias, bringing “death, displacement and prolonged suffering to Darfurian civilians.”

However, Mr. Ban says he was encouraged by the meeting convened by Mr. Eliasson and Mr. Salim in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, last month, to take stock of the progress so far towards holding full negotiations for a solution to the Darfur conflict.