Sudan Monday quit the leadership of the African Union (AU) due
to the Darfur region conflicts.?
Alpha Oumar Konare, the AU's top diplomat, told reporters that
Ghanaian President John Kufuor would now become chairman by
consensus.
He said Sudan had supported the decision, avoiding a damaging
dispute that could eclipse issues such as raising peacekeeping
troops for Somalia.
Prior to the AU summit, predictions had been made that the Sudan
issue would dominate the summit with only a late resolution.
Delegates at the summit said mediation by South African
President Thabo Mbeki and a group of seven respected presidents or
"wise men" resolved the dispute.
The 2007 chairmanship was promised to Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir a year ago since he had been passed over due to the
Darfur violence, which has reportedly killed 200,000 people and
driven 2.5 million from their homes.
Bashir has blocked the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops to
bolster an African Union military mission of 7,000 soldiers and
monitors.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Lama Kol said: "This was our
suggestion. We voluntarily suggested this so that the foreign
elements who were trying to divide the continent over this issue
would not succeed ... what was important was to take the decision
for the unity of the continent."
This was a sudden change of heart from Sudan, which had seemed
adamant to hold onto the chairmanship prior to the summit.
As the summit began in the Ethiopian capital, Addis-Ababa,
pressure rose to prevent Sudan from running an organization whose
peacekeepers are charged with stemming the violence in the nation's
vast west.
Further pressure was piled on after Chad, whose relations with
Sudan have soured after the Darfur conflict spilled over their
border, had vowed to withdraw from the AU if Bashir attained the
chair.
(China Daily via Agencies January 30, 2007)
