African Unification Front
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Links for Information on Darfur
26, Feb 2005
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON DARFUR CONCLUDES INVESTIGATION
Members of Africa's federal parliament [PAP] have concluded talks with the conflicting groups involved in the Darfur Crisis, including the main dissident forces in western Sudan. The Pan African Parliamentary Select Committee on Darfur has finished its three-month assessment of the Darfur conflict and will present a comprehensive report at the next session of the PAP. The next PAP session opens on 29, March 2005, in Midrand, the interim federal capital of Africa.
The Pan African Parliamentary committee has been conducting a three-month long investigation on how best to resolve the conflict in Darfur. The African Parliament's Select Committee on Darfur held meetings with officials of the Sudan Liberation Movement SLM, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), as well as commanders of the Sudanese government army. Committee member Mighty Madasa [SA] said the main objective of the meetings was to gain an insight into their perspectives as to the cause and solution of the conflict.
Abdu Katuntu, Darfur Committee Chair
 The African Parliament formed the select committee on Darfur in October 2004, during the Parliament's second session, held in Africa's capital, Midrand. The six-member group traveled to the region in November, where they met with officials from the Sudanese government, dissident groups, the United Nations, local communities, and others to see how best to put an end to the two-year-old conflict, which has claimed more than 50,000 lives.
The chair of the African Parliament's Select Committee on Darfur, Abdu Katuntu [UG], confirmed the committee will table their final report during the next session of the Pan-African Parliament. He said the committee's investigations were more than just information gathering sessions. The Committee's report will include details of the Darfur conflict's history, military operations, humanitarian situation, the status of the African Union's mission in Sudan, and recommendations on how to end the conflict.
"Our mission is subtly different from the sort of missions that have been in Darfur in the sense that we are not only investigating but we are also engaging the bureaucrats, the parties to the realities on the ground, and impressing it upon them the need to have a quick solution to that problem," Mr. Katuntu said.
Mr. Katuntu said, for peace to come to Darfur, the government and the rebels must go beyond merely negotiating cease-fires and humanitarian arrangements to instead tackle the political issues that have caused the conflict.
In a statement to the media, the PAP Select Committee's secretary Halifa Sallah [Gambia], said, "The Sudanese government and armed opposition are also facing (the) challenge of relevance," and issued a stern warning to the warring parties not to let the fighting continue. Currently the African Union government has 3000 troops deployed in Darfur, in addition to AU civil officials, AU police and relief workers who are helping to resolve the crisis.
Members of the African Parliament have also taken part in the AU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Abuja, and are working on the planning process for the reconstruction of the Sudan, Somalia, the Congo, and Cote d'Ivoire.
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