Sudan hopes to end Darfur conflict in next session

The Sudanese vice president Ali Othman Muhammad Taha said that his government authorized its delegation to the negotiations over Darfur to finalize a final agreement during the next round of talks in Abuja in the mid September.

Taha said in statements following his meeting with the special delegate of the African Union to Darfur, Salem Ahmad Salem, that the Sudanese government is committed and has a firm desire to provide the negotiations, pending since two months, a success, noting that the government delegation will arrive in Abuja at the set time.

For his part, the delegate of the African Union who also met with the Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and the first Sudanese vice president Silva Kiir that he had received guarantees from them that the next round of negotiations with the two movements for liberating Sudan and the "al-Adel wal-Musawat" (justice and equality), which will start on September 15, will achieve genuine progress.

Upon his arrival in Khartoum on Tuesday morning, Salem expressed hope that his visit will contribute to finding out a permanent and complete solution to Darfur crisis, which he described as becoming a source for concern not only for Sudan rather for the African continent as a whole.

Salem is presumed to leave Khartoum on Thursday evening for Libya and Chad to thank them for their positive roles in the efforts to reach a solution for the conflict in Darfur, according to the spokesman for the African Union.

Worthy mentioning that the two rebels movements in Darfur and the Sudanese government reached in July a declaration of principles following talks that lasted for three weeks. The negotiations were suspended after the two sides signed an agreement.

Since February 2003, Darfur has been witnessing a civil war that resulted in killing between 180,000 to 300,000, according to various sources and the displacement of 2.6 million persons.