Darfur Peace Talks to Be Held in Libya

Parties involved in the Darfur conflict occurring in western Sudan are to hold peace negotiations in Libya next month. The United Nations Secretary-General has visited Libya, Sudan, and neighboring Chad in recent days, and made a statement supporting the peace talks and urging an end to the violence. He also met with the leaders of all three countries to discuss the issue.

According to a U.N. press release on Sunday, the talks are to be held in the Libyan capitol of Tripoli on October 27th, and will be led by African Union Special Envoy Salim Ahmed Salim and U.N. Special Envoy Jan Eliasson. The U.N. Secretary General has made a statement calling upon the parties involved in the conflict to put an end to the violence, participate in the peace negotiations, and be committed to their outcome. He also called for improvement of the humanitarian conditions in Darfur.

A brief news story issued by the official Libyan broadcasting corporation indicated that the U.N. Secretary General praised Libya's leader Muammar Gadhafi for promoting "peace and security" and discussed the visits to Chad and Sudan with him, as well as the upcoming peace negotiations regarding Darfur. According to an African Press Agency news story released on Friday, the U.N. Secretary General spoke with Chad's President regarding the situation in Darfur and the one-hundred and fifty thousand refugees who have entered eastern Chad from Sudan.

The official Voice of America radio provided a more detailed report on the meeting between the Libyan and U.N. leaders. It indicated that they spoke for about one and a half hours in Sirte, and the Secretary-General stated that Gadhafi intended to make sure the leaders of all rebel groups involved (which he has influence with) would attend the peace talks, saying that he was sure Libya would take on a constructive role. They agreed that the talks should produce a "final settlement" of the Darfur issue. The VOA also reported that of the nine rebel group leaders involved in the conflict, only one refuses to attend the negotiations at present.

As indicated by the CIA World Factbook profile of Sudan, the conflict in Darfur has caused the death of approximately two-hundred thousand to four-hundred thousand people, and many more have become refugees. Chad is located along Libya's southern border, and Sudan borders the east of Chad, as well as the southeastern corner of Libya.

Sources:

1. United Nations, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23746&Cr=Sudan&Cr1=Darfur
2. LJBC, http://en.ljbc.net/online/news_details.php?id=2313
3. CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html
4. African Press Agency, http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=41297
5. Voice of America, http://voanews.com/english/2007-09-08-voa29.cfm