Sudan rejects the one month grace period, Egypt sends observers to Darfur
The Sudanese government yesterday condemned the 30-day grace period given by the UN Security Council to move in Darfur district, but said it will carry out a 90-day program agreed upon earlier with the UN secretary general Kofi Annan, while the Egytian foreign minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghiet who visited the area on Saturday said that his country will dispatch military officers to join the observers who will work under the leadership of the African federation to monitor the cease-fire in Darfur.
In a resolution issued on Friday, the UN Security Council called on the Sudanese government to act within 30 days in order to dismantle the weapons of al-Jangaweid militias which are blamed for finding out a political crisis in the area which is situated to the west of Sudan, otherwise it will face economic and diplomatic sanctions.
Following a meeting held yesterday by the Sudanese government to study the decision, the Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael deplored the given time and considered it as illogic and difficult to be implemented especially that the agreement finalized with the UN gives a grace period of 90 days for implementation. He said that Sudan will abide by implementing the agreement it had signed with Annan on July 3rd and the common implementation mechansim set to monitor the agreement.
The agreement with Annan states the abidance of the Sudanese government to dismantle the weapons of Jangaweid and accept human rights observers in Darfur where the conflict displaced more than one million persons.
Ismael added that the joint mechanism for implementation which will include American and Sudanese officials will meet today to continue work.
On the other hand, Ismael accused al-Adel Wal Musawat ( justice and equity) movement, one of the two main rebel movements in Darfr in expanding the area of fighting to reach east Sudan, after unifying its lines with an eastern rebel group called the Free Sudanese Lions organization in a conference in Eritrea.