Summit could resolve conflict
2006-01-20 19:47
Cape Town - The African Union summit set to take place in Khartoum next week will hopefully contribute towards finding a faster resolution to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday.
In his weekly newsletter, he said part of the reason the summit was being held in the Sudanese capital was to celebrate that country's 50th anniversary of independence.
The choice of venue, however, would also provide Africa's political leaders "with an opportunity to reflect on both positive and negative developments in Sudan".
The decision to hold the summit in Khartoum has been condemned by international human rights organisations, which say it tarnishes the AU's credibility, and condones the Sudanese government's complicity in crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The Darfur conflict has pitted two main rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement - against the government.
More than 30 African heads of state are set to attend the biannual AU summit on Monday and Tuesday.
Sudan's hosting of the summit could, if AU tradition is followed, automatically give that country the chairmanship of the AU.
In his newsletter, Mbeki says African leaders meeting in Khartoum will, among other things, "have to ensure that this year... the conflict in Darfur, the only 'low intensity war' on our continent, ends".
On the positive side, the Assembly would celebrate the first anniversary of the conclusion of the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in Kenya in January last year.
"As a result of the finalisation of this agreement, the protracted war between North and South (Sudan) ceased, and not a single shot has since been fired in violation of the agreement to end the war."
Mbeki said African leaders should study developments in Sudan very closely and extend all support to ensure the success of the CPA.
"This is because the Sudanese experience may very well provide an important example to all of us about how to build stable societies, despite the immense diversity that characterises many African countries.
"The failure properly to manage this diversity, ensuring the genuine equality of all citizens, has been one of the fundamental causes of the instability and conflict that has affected many of our countries during the period of independence," he said.
On the negative side, the AU Assembly would reflect on the unresolved problem of Darfur, which had now led to tensions between Sudan and Chad.
"Again, with regard to the conflict in Darfur and the road map to its resolution, we will have to return to the central issue of the proper democratic management of a diverse society.
"Hopefully, the Khartoum Assembly will contribute to an accelerated advance towards the resolution of the conflict in Darfur, and the application to this region of the CPA framework that has brought so much hope to millions of Sudanese people," Mbeki said.
- SAPA