PRESS CONFERENCE on opening of darfur peace talks in libya

 

The first phase of the Darfur peace talks had successfully begun, and while the absence of several factional leaders was “disappointing”, the door remained open to those who wished to join, spokesman for the United Nations-African Union mediation team Ahmad Fawzi told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

“They are the beneficiaries of this process,” said Mr. Fawzi, who just returned from the talks that opened in Sirte, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on 27 October.  “And they owe it to their people to come up with a unified position,” he emphasized, saying it was now crucial for the diverse rebel movements of the war-ravaged region, including those that did not attend, to “get their act together”.  There were now some 16 groups that had splintered from the three movements that existed a year and a half ago.

The opening session was attended by the leader of the host country, foreign ministers of the other neighbouring countries, high-level international observers from the European Union, United States, Japan, China and other countries, he said.  Also of great importance was the attendance of representatives of civil society in Darfur.

He explained that the process consisted of three phases.  Phase I encompassed the opening, the plenary sessions and the statements of position that led directly into the current Phase II, made up of consultations and workshops in preparation for direct negotiations.  Those would occur in Phase III, which was planned for about four weeks from now.

Phase I represented the first time the parties were meeting face to face since the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006, he said.  There was consensus that dialogue was the only way forward and there was no military solution to the conflicts.

Of the rebel movement, there were seven groups represented by high-level delegates, including the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), he said.  Along with a group of field commanders, there were 27 persons in all from the factions in Sirte at the point he left.

Among the absent factional leaders, he said, were those who rejected the process outright, including Abdul Wahid el-Nur whose attendance was considered crucial but who had said he would not join until security was guaranteed.  The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Jan Eliasson was, however, in contact with his representatives.

There were other leaders who wanted to come to Sirte but had certain preconditions, he said, and others who could not attend for logistical reasons.  A joint UN-AU mission had arrived in Juba to consult with those who could not attend and would be going to Al-Fasher in Darfur.

This second phase of consultations was also deemed necessary because of the complexity of the issues, which included compensation, wealth-sharing, security arrangements, ceasefire monitoring arrangements, governance and power-sharing, etc.

Asked about Libya’s role in the negotiations, Mr. Fawzi said the Government had been extremely cooperative.  He added that Libya, along with Chad, Egypt and Eritrea, also played an extremely important role as regional partners.

Asked about the time frame anticipated for this phase of negotiations, he said it was expected to last up to four weeks.  What was clear, however, was that “time is on nobody’s side”.

“The time is now for these parties to get engaged and to join the peace process,” he said.  The international community was seized with the crisis at the moment, “poised to pour millions of dollars in reconstruction and development aid into Darfur”.

Expressing that urgency, he said, made the attendance of civil society so important at the talks.  Its representatives, including women, stood up in the presence of the delegation of the Government of the Sudan and the rebel movements and said:  “We’ve had enough of this.  We believe in this process and we want it to work.”

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For information media • not an official record