Museveni asked to mediate in Darfur

Jul 18, 2008

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has been asked to mediate between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups, according to sources. If the plan is acceptable to both parties, the next round of peace talks will take place in Kampala.

By Felix Osike
and agencies


PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has been asked to mediate between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups, according to sources. If the plan is acceptable to both parties, the next round of peace talks will take place in Kampala.

Reliable sources said President Museveni was this week contacted by international organisations to mediate between the warring parties.

This comes only a few days after the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi would neither confirm nor deny that the President had been contacted over Darfur. “If the President is asked to help in Darfur and both parties agree, I don’t think he can refuse. He is ready and willing to mediate between the government of Sudan and the rebels,” he said.

Museveni has been involved in conflict resolution efforts in Burundi, Somalia and South Sudan. The conflict in Darfur pits government forces and allied militias against armed rebellion movements.

The Darfur peace talks were put on hold after a highly-publicised meeting in Sirte, Libya, on October 27, 2007. Last month, former foreign minister of Burkina Faso Djibrill Bassolé was appointed the joint African Union/United Nations mediator.

The ICC prosecutor does not allege that Bashir physically or directly carried out the crimes. He allegedly committed them through members of his State apparatus, the army and the Janjaweed militias. His supporters in Khartoum have protested against the charges.

The request for an arrest warrant will be considered by a panel of three ICC judges who are expected to take several months to give their opinion.
If they issue the warrant, Sudan is supposed to hand over the president since the court has a mandate from the Security Council, even though Sudan is not party to the ICC treaty.

Museveni has reportedly said he cannot defend Bashir against the proposed ICC indictments as it would require a collective position of the African Union.

Bashir has appointed a high level committee, headed by his first deputy and South Sudanese president Salva Kiir, to develop a road map against the accusations.

The panel has to coordinate efforts with the African Union, the Arab League and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.
In addition, the committee has to study the legal aspects of the charges and to find a compromise with the international community to avoid jeopardising the signed peace accords.

The nine-member committee, which consists of peoples from the different parts of the country, including Darfur, held its first meeting on Wednesday.

The committee is expected to meet African Union officials and the Arab League Secretary General, Amr Musa, who intends to travel to Khartoum on Sunday, the day after an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo.

Meanwhile, Sudan yesterday rejected a deal with the ICC to hand over two indicted officials in exchange for dropping the arrest warrant for Bashir.
“There will be no direct cooperation with the International Criminal Court and no sending any Sudanese citizens to The Hague,” presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told a forum.

Western diplomats in New York have said a deal could be struck to drop or suspend the warrant for Bashir if he agreed to hand over Humanitarian Affairs State Minister Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Kushayb, indicted by the ICC last year.

A senior Sudanese government official, agreeing with Ismail’s stand, ruled out a deal. “This is non-negotiable,” he told Reuters. “Any talks will be held within the declared position of Sudan.”

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