Sudanese President al-Bashir threatens walkout from Darfur talks

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Nairobi/Khartoum - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday threatened his side would quit the talks in Qatar aimed at ending the Darfur conflict if there is no agreement by the end of 2010 on Friday.

His remarks reported by the online edition of the Sudan Tribune were immediately deplored by mediators and by the other side in the Darfur talks, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

"If we reach an agreement tomorrow, praise be to God," al-Bashir said. "But if there is no agreement, we will withdraw our negotiating team.

"The negotiation and dialogue will be inside Darfur and with the Darfur people. We will not negotiate with any person who carries a gun and claims that he is a leader of an armed faction," he said.

The warning comes after nearly two years of talks in Doha with the support of the African Union and the Arab League to try to end the conflict in region in western Sudan between the predominantly black African ethnic population and Arab militias.

The chief negotiator in Doha, Djibril Bassole, said he regretted al-Bashir's remarks, calling them a threat to the peace process.

Ahmed Hussein, spokesman for JEM, the largest rebel group in Darfur, called al-Bashir's comments a "serious blow to the peace efforts."

By United Nations estimates, more than 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2003. In the meantime the International Court of Justice has issued an arrest warrant against al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360146,threatens-walkout-darfur-talks.html.