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Re: الجبهة المتحدة للتحرير والتنمية .. البحث عن السلام بين ملتقي طرابلس وأروشـا (Re: Nazar Yousif)
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United Front for Liberation & Development (UFLD)
Meeting with UN & AU Representatives
The UFLD leadership met in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on Sunday July 22nd 2007, with Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Senior Adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Darfur and Ambassador Sam Ebok of the AU; and, expressed to them appreciation for the efforts of their respective organizations. Moreover the Front renewed its support to the Arusha meeting for Darfurian opposition, facilitated by the UN, AU, regional initiative partners (Chad, Eritrea and Libya) and the SPLM, to coordinate views, positions, mechanisms and decide on the structure of negotiations with the government.
In an attempt to expedite an end of Darfur crisis and the search for a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement, the Front demanded equal representation for all movements participating in Arusha. In taking this principled position, the UFLD set aside the advantage of its own political and military weight of broad and diverse ethnic representation, in addition to, command over about eighty percent of the forces on the ground. In short, the UFLD reflects a new and changed balance of power in Darfur, and welcomes any assessment mission from the UN, AU and the three neighboring states of the regional initiative, to verify this shifting equilibrium of military forces.
After assuring both envoys that the UFLD have developed a common strategy for negotiations with the government and an action plan for the success of Arusha, the Front leaders expressed concern about the UN and AU general handling of Darfur question, and detailed their disapproval of the unrealistic and unjustifiable importance attached to individuals over organizations, warning against such policies that can only waste resources and undermine efforts to address the root causes of the crisis. Apart from obscuring the essence of the unfolding new realities in Darfur, such approaches renders the peace process hostage to self centered individuals with inflated egos, who are more concerned with personal gain than the plight of displaced citizens and refugees, or the future stability of Darfur, the Sudan and the larger region.
Finally, the UFLD called on the UN, AU and their partners the three states of the regional initiative to honor the Tripoli II resolution barring new or parallel initiatives for unifying the Darfurian opposition. Such plans are still being floated under a variety of labels, ranging from merging SLA factions or holding conferences for field commanders. Firstly, giving primacy to personalities over organizations undermines every effort at institution building and weakens the political and negotiating capacity of the resistance movements. Secondly, that policy violates most elementary organizational by-laws which invariably stipulate that issues of internal structures must not be handled by third parties from outside. However, if the movements approve, then whatever conflicts or other disagreements that may exist between or within organizations can be thrashed out and discussed openly during the Arusha meeting.
UFLD Information Office,
Asmara, July 23rd 2007.
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