Recent Fighting In Darfur

African Union-UN Envoy And Sudanese Official Discuss Recent Fighting In Darfur

New York, May 19 2009 6:10PM The joint African Union-United Nations envoy to Darfur met with a senior Sudanese official today to discuss recent fighting in the strife-torn region and rising tensions between Sudan and Chad, a spokesperson for the world body said.

Marie Okabe told reporters in New York that the AU-UN Joint Special Representative, Rodolphe Adada, met with Minni Minawi, a former rebel who is now the Senior Assistant to the Sudanese President.

“They discussed the latest developments in Darfur, particularly the recent fighting between the Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/MM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). They also discussed rising tensions between Chad and Sudan,” Ms. Okabe said.

Fighting between the two groups flared up some ten days ago in the north Darfur town of Umm Baru. Mr. Adada said the AU-UN peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID, had taken 26 people injured in the fighting to the North Darfur capital of El Fasher for treatment at a military hospital.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday voiced his concern at recent violence and tensions in the border area between Chad and Sudan and called on all parties to cease fighting.

“He underscores that there is no military solution to the situation in the sub-region and urges the Governments of Chad and Sudan to refrain from any act that may lead to a further escalation of tensions,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

Last week Mr. Adada met with the Under-Secretary of the Sudanese Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mutrif Siddiq, and Presidential Adviser, Mustafa Osman Ismail, during separate meetings in Khartoum.

In a briefing to the Security Council in April, Mr. Adada estimated that around 2,000 civilians have been in killed in Darfur since UNAMID deployed last year.

Some 15 peacekeepers have also lost their lives since the Security Council established UNAMID to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million forced from their homes in more than five years of fighting, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.

Ms. Okabe said that in the past 24 hours, the military component of UNAMID conducted 72 confidence-building patrols, escorts, night patrols and investigative patrols in and around villages and camps for internally displaced persons.

ENDS

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