Ban lauds Libyan role in Darfur peace talks

Published on Sunday 9 September 2007 00:40

UN SECRETARY-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday said his goal is to reach a final political settlement to end the four-year conflict in Darfur, as he arrived in the hometown of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi to discuss upcoming peace negotiations.

Ban announced on Thursday that Libya will host the talks set for October 27, and he again praised the country's important mediating role in organising two meetings with Darfur rebel groups earlier this year. The UN chief also made clear he wants these negotiations to produce results.

"First and foremost, we must have [the] Tripoli meeting a success," Ban said. "We'd like to make it the final phase of political negotiations. That's our goal. We'll all try our best efforts."

Ban's stop in Libya was the last in a three-nation tour to promote an end to the protracted conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been uprooted.

The new negotiations follow a UN and African Union conference in Arusha, Tanzania, in early August that brought Darfur rebels together to agree on a common platform for talks, but key rebel leader Abdel Wahid Nur boycotted the meeting and has rejected the proposed negotiations.

Ban said he hoped to use Gaddafi's influence with the rebel movements to ensure that all would attend talks - a proposal seconded by Libya's AU minister, Ali Abdel Salam Treiki.

"We will use our efforts, our contacts with these people, the good relations we have... for the success of this meeting," he said.