يا "واصل" إذا كنت فعلا صحفى وتتعامل بمهنية إحترافية لماذ لم تنقل مؤتمر غرايشن الصحفى فى واشنطن!

United States Department of State (Washington, DC) Sudan: Foreign Press Center Briefing With Special Envoy for Sudan Scott Gration 11 January 2010 (Page 4 of 4) Click to learn more... MR. GRATION: Yes, I’ll answer your second part first. Our role so far has been to create an environment where the Sudanese people themselves can come up with agreements. We have not forced any agreement. We have not forced the parties to make any commitments. What we’ve tried to do is outline the issues, to facilitate, to help in any way we can, but it has really been to create an environment. And that really lends itself to the second part, because you’ve raised an important issue. There are so many countries that border Sudan, and so many issues impinge on Sudan. Just the fact that we have refugees coming in from Uganda into Equatoria because of the Lord’s Resistance Army and some of the things that have happened in there in terms of villages that have been burned down and women being raped and people being killed and many people are coming north, there are other trade angles where it’s important for the countries of the south to continue the trade to the north. Libya has been very helpful in Darfur and coming up with solutions in Darfur. Libya has been very useful in helping with rebel unification. Egypt is very concerned, as you know, about the Nile waters and the 1959 agreement that controls the flow of water. And we are continuing to work with all those countries. Prime Minister Meles has been very useful as he’s discussed and shared his concepts and historical background. And I’m going to Kenya and Uganda to talk to the Kenyan leaders and President Museveni this – on the 26th to get their perspectives. And then I’m going to the African Union to – again, to understand more. Because I don’t live in Sudan; America doesn’t live in Sudan. But we know it’s critically important to Africa and critically important to the whole world that this problem gets resolved, because we can’t afford to have a civil divorce that’s messy, and that civil war that results. Because the ramifications of that, which stretch from Cairo to Capetown and from Dakar to Djibouti, we have to ensure that the outcome of this is peace – lasting peace not only for Sudan, whether they divide or whether they stay unified, but peace for the entire region. That’s our goal, that’s our objective, and that’s what we’re trying to do is create an environment so the Africans themselves can help Africa, so the Sudanese themselves can come up with the right answers for them. MODERATOR: Last question for Washington. Yes, go ahead. QUESTION: Yes, Menelik Zeleke from the PGTV news network. It has been stated that the ICC has issued a arrest warrant for the President al-Bashir. What is the United States or President Obama’s philosophy behind that? And does he also see that the ICC has the authority to issue such a warrant? MR. GRATION: These issues would be best discussed with the special councils and the people that deal with this on a day-to-day basis. As I said before, we are encouraging the Sudanese to comply with the requests of the ICC for information. We also believe that there cannot be a lasting peace unless these issues are resolved. And right now, my focus is to save lives, to reverse the dire conditions that occur in Darfur, to have a definitive end to the conflict there, to end the gross human rights abuses and the atrocities that have taken place, to end the genocide and the results that people are living in today in terms of over 2.7 million people in IDP camps. In addition to that, we have a mandate to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. And I’ll tell you, frankly, to do that, we have to have a dialogue with Khartoum, with the NCP. We have to have a similar dialogue with the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir and the rest of them. We have to have a dialogue with the tribal leaders, with the IDPs, with the rebels in Darfur. And we have to have a dialogue, as was pointed out, with all the neighbors – with Cairo, with Tripoli, with N’djamena, Kampala, Nairobi and Addis. All these relationships have to be there. And so we have frank dialogue and engagement – not for engagement’s sake, but to save lives. And that’s why we’re continuing to talk with the government of Khartoum, the Government of Sudan. That’s why we continue to negotiate with them to be able to save lives, to be able to bring peace, and then when the time is right, we’ll ensure that there’s accountability and justice in accordance with the international systems. MODERATOR: New York, do we have a question? QUESTION: Thanks, General, for this briefing. This is Khaled Dawoud, Al Jazeera correspondent here in New York. I just have a quick follow-up, I mean, on your answer about President Bashir. There were reports that the U.S. is trying to convince him not to run in the upcoming elections as a kind of a way out of this, you know, disagreement – obvious disagreement between the African Union and the United States and the Europeans over the ICC issue. So I was wondering if this is one option you think that could be useful. And then my second question by virtue of working here in New York and covering the UN: Is the U.S. Administration speaking in one voice about Sudan? Because some members of the Administration would still insist that we are having a genocide or a continuing genocide in Darfur. So I wanted to clarify the Administration’s position on this issue, because there are many other reports that the situation has relatively calmed down in Darfur and it’s mostly tribal violence. Thank you. MR. GRATION: Let me answer the genocide question first. The President has talked about a genocide that has taken place. And we continue to deal with the effects of the situation. We are speaking with one voice as we try to reverse the devastation and the dire conditions that exist in Darfur. And as we look forward, there’s absolutely no question that we’re all working together, working with one accord on the same objective, which is to save lives and to bring peace in that area. As for President Bashir running and other people running, the parties will put up their candidates by – around the 22nd of January. And as far as I know, we have not been involved in making any recommendations, recognizing that Sudan is a sovereign country and these parties can run themselves as they see fit and put up for contesting these positions anybody who they would like. And so I am not aware of any decisions on our part to try to change the outcome of what the NCP would decide in terms of their candidate for national government. QUESTION: Sir, I’m Renzo Cianfanelli of the Italian media group Corriere della Sera. I have a question on some reports which come up from time to time about the possible involvement of al-Qaida in Sudan. Could you enlighten us on this point? Thank you. MR. GRATION: It is the best of my knowledge that Sudan is not supporting al-Qaida in any way. In fact, it’s my understanding that they’ve been helpful to the international community to try to stop terrorism. So I don’t have any other information beyond that, but it would appear to me that Sudan is participating in the global efforts to stamp out terrorism, especially on the international side. Relevant Links * East Africa * North Africa * Sudan * U.S., Canada and Africa * Peacekeeping * International Organisations * Conflict MODERATOR: New York. QUESTION: My name is Louise With. I’m from a newspaper in Denmark. Forgive me for going off in a bit of a different direction. I’m writing a profile about Mr. Lumumba Di-Aping, who was very active at the climate summit in Copenhagen in December. So I’m wondering if you could give me your comments on – have you met him, what’s your impression of him, and what’s your reaction to his appearance and his comments and statements in Copenhagen regarding the climate negotiations? Thank you. MR. GRATION: Yes, thank you very much, and I must say at this point that while I am familiar with him and his work, I have been dedicated to Sudan. I am the Envoy to Sudan, and as you probably know, I spend a great deal of time focused strictly on Sudan. I’ve made – I’m getting ready to make my 12th visit to the region in 10 months, and so most of my time is spent on Sudanese issues, Sudan’s challenges. And I’m afraid I haven’t spent enough time studying Copenhagen to give you a good enough answer, so I apologize. MODERATOR: That’ll be all. MR. GRATION: Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity and I look forward to doing this again. MODERATOR: Thank you all for coming this morning