Joint UN-African Union envoy confers with Sudanese official on Darfur

The head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) held discussions with a senior Sudanese official on the security and humanitarian situation following the recent fighting and heightened tensions between the Government and armed groups in the region.

Following the meeting yesterday in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, between Ibrahim Gambari, the Joint AU-UN Special Representative in Darfur, and Ghazi Salah Al-Deen, Sudan’s presidential adviser in charge of Darfur, UNAMID was informed of a commitment by Sudanese security authorities to allow air and road movements unless there are specific security threats, which would be communicated to the mission.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by the chairman of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, arrived in El Fasher today as part of a visit to Sudan ahead of the referendum, beginning on Sunday, on the self-determination of Southern Sudan.

The eight-member delegation was welcomed by Mr. Gambari and other senior officials and was briefed on the recent security and humanitarian developments in Darfur, including efforts to assist newly displaced populations.

The delegation later flew to Shangil Tobaya, approximately 70 kilometres south of El Fasher, where thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been sheltering outside UNAMID’s team site after clashes in the area last December between armed movements and Sudanese Government forces.

While food aid has not yet been delivered to the IDPs, the peacekeepers have been providing water and basic medical care, in addition to increasing their patrols and escorts to nearby water points.

“On behalf of all of our citizens, on behalf of President [Barack] Obama, and all those people who support the United Nations’ efforts, we are very grateful to you,” Mr. Kerry told the peacekeepers. “We have great respect for what you’re doing, and we hope that your lives and the lives of the Darfurians and of the Sudanese will change over the course of the next year much more dramatically,” he added.

In a related development, the Arab-African Ministerial Committee on Darfur and the Darfur Mediation Team held a meeting in Doha yesterday, following which the committee renewed its support for the Doha peace process, which is led by Qatar and backed by the AU-UN Joint Chief Mediator, Djibril Bassolé, as the only platform for the settlement of the conflict.

They observed that the Doha peace process has reached a critical stage and called for the convergence of all peace initiatives and efforts into one single one in the Doha forum.