- A special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General, Jan Eliasson, today arrives in Sudan to open fresh talks which aims to foster political negotiations among parties to the Darfur conflict.
Mr Eliasson met the African Union-UN Joint Mediation Support Team in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. His discussion with the team had centred on preparations for the proposed joint international meeting on the Darfur political process in Libya.
Scheduled for 15 and 16 July, the meeting will assess the progress being made concerning the Darfur peace talks over the past months.
The UN envoy will leave Khartoum for the capital of West Darfur province of El Geneina where he is expected to hold talks with all those connected to the Darfur crisis, including political parties, civil society groups, representatives of internally displaced persons and local authorities who took part in dialogue and consultation process on the conflict.
Since the brutal conflict started in the Southern Sudanese region of Darfur, at least 200,000 people had been reportedly killed while two million others were displaced.
The Tripoli meeting is tasked with focusing on the roadmap, the joint plan of the UN and the AU. Negotiating peace among the parties to the Darfur conflict is the third phase of the roadmap.
Also traveling to Sudan is Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU envoy on Darfur. Mr Salim is expected to arrive in Khartoum at the weekend to pave the resumption of peace talks between the government, its allies, the Janjaweed militias and rebel groups in Darfur.
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