Situation at Darfur Peace Talks in Abuja "Still Evolving"
05 May 2006
State Department spokesman briefs reporters, expresses hope
By Charles W. Corey
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The situation at the Darfur peace talks now under way in Abuja, Nigeria, is "still evolving," but the United States hopes that this will be a "good and hopeful day" for the people of Sudan and Darfur, says U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Speaking to reporters May 5 at the department's regular press briefing, McCormack said news reports coming out of Abuja have the government of Sudan and the main faction of the rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) under the leadership of Minni Minnawi, agreeing on an accord.
McCormack quickly cautioned, however, that "the talks are still continuing." He added that there is "still some consideration on the part of at least one of the other rebel groups" as to whether they are going to sign on to the accord as well.
"That is where we stand right now. It is still an evolving situation, but potentially a very hopeful day for the people of Darfur," he added.
McCormack again cautioned reporters that even if an agreement is reached on paper, there will be a need to implement that agreement, and "that," he stressed, "is going to require as much if not more work on the part of the parties involved and the international community."
"We will be right there," he pledged, "to see that it is implemented, but first we have to get signatures on a piece of paper -- and, at this point, I am not aware that we have that quite yet."
Asked what happens if only one party signs on to the accord, McCormack said: "You continue to move forward. … If that is in fact the case, you continue working the political process.
"There is no substitute," he stressed, "for a political accommodation -- a political settlement -- in order to ultimately solve the grave humanitarian and security issues that exist there. … Ultimately, you are not going to solve the issues in Darfur absent that political agreement."
Asked if the P5 (the five permanent representative countries on the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia) might be consulted on the issue, McCormack said, "It could very well come up" with regard to the P5, but he said he did not expect the Quartet to take up the issue.
He told reporters that the British government has suggested a possible meeting on Darfur at the United Nations in New York, which he termed a "very interesting idea."
McCormack added, however, that the current U.S. emphasis is on the Abuja talks and "making those work and doing what we can to see that they move forward."
STATE'S ZOELLICK STILL WORKING WITH NEGOTIATORS IN ABUJA
Asked about Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick's plans in Abuja, McCormack said, "Right now, he is there and he is working hard and side by side with the AU [African Union] negotiators and President [Olusegun] Obasanjo of Nigeria." (See related article.)
McCormack took time to single out the hard work of the Nigerian president and the AU on trying to achieve success at the Abuja talks. "We hope that it is successful in terms of gaining as many possible signatures on the document from the rebel groups as possible," he said, "but President Obasanjo and the AU deserve great praise and great credit for the effort they have put in and the focus that they have devoted to get the process to the point at which we are right now."
Earlier on May 5, in Abuja, Zoellick told reporters, "The people in Darfur need the leadership of the movements to seize an opportunity for peace … to step forward and recognize that there is a tremendous chance to strengthen the regulatory authority that they would have; to strengthen their political power sharing on the way to elections in three years; to help them in terms of the neutralization and disarming of the Jingaweit; have a specific plan to accomplish that, with specific milestones addressing specific items; to help with the integration of their military forces in the government of Sudan's army."
State Department spokesman McCormack has stressed that the government of Sudan and the Sudanese rebel leaders are faced with the decision in Abuja of whether to embrace peace. They are the ones, he said, who "hold the keys" to a solution to the crisis that grips Darfur.
For additional information, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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