From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu May 27 2010 - 09:13:12 EDT
http://www.france24.com/en/20100527-sudans-beshir-vows-dialogue-with-west#comments
27 May 2010 - 14H11
Sudan's Beshir vows dialogue with West
[image: Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir smiles at Khartoum airport on May
26. Beshir, who rode back to power in an election last month, is to be sworn
in as head of Africa's biggest state facing conflict in Darfur and with
an international arrest warrant hanging over
him.]<http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1274947916609-1-0_0.jpg>
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir smiles at Khartoum airport on May 26.
Beshir, who rode back to power in an election last month, is to be sworn in
as head of Africa's biggest state facing conflict in Darfur and with an
international arrest warrant hanging over him.
[image: A woman waves the Ethiopian flag as Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir receives President of Eritrea Isaias Afewerki at Khartoum airport
on May 26. Veteran Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir vowed to engage with
the West despite an International Criminal Court warrant hanging over him,
as he was sworn in to a new five-year
term.]<http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1274962011310-1-0.jpg>
A woman waves the Ethiopian flag as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
receives President of Eritrea Isaias Afewerki at Khartoum airport on May 26.
Veteran Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir vowed to engage with the West
despite an International Criminal Court warrant hanging over him, as he was
sworn in to a new five-year term.
[image: Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir (left) reviews an honour guard
with his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki at Khartoum airport on May 26.
Beshir vowed to engage with the West despite an International Criminal Court
warrant hanging over him, as he was sworn in to a new five-year
term.]<http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1274961538111-1-0.jpg>
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir (left) reviews an honour guard with his
Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki at Khartoum airport on May 26. Beshir
vowed to engage with the West despite an International Criminal Court
warrant hanging over him, as he was sworn in to a new five-year term.
*AFP - *Veteran Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir vowed on Thursday to
engage with the West despite an International Criminal Court warrant hanging
over him, as he was sworn in to a new five-year term.
Beshir, who last month won a multi-party election 21 years after seizing
power in a military coup, also pledged to fight for Sudanese unity as
Africa's biggest country heads to a referendum in January next year on
independence for the south.
Dressed in traditional white robes and turban, Beshir addressed parliament
in a ceremony attended by six African heads of state or government, and
low-level representation from Western countries.
"I will personally strive to build up a dialogue, an objective dialogue with
Western states aimed at clearing the atmosphere," he said.
In March 2009, Beshir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted
by the ICC. He stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in
Darfur.
The seven-year-old conflict in the vast western region pitting the army and
Arab militias against ethnic minority rebels sparked US charges of genocide
and Western anger that he refused to cooperate with the International
Criminal Court or surrender wanted officials.
His alleged crimes against humanity include murder, extermination, forcible
transfer, torture, and rape, and two counts of war crimes -- attacks against
civilians and pillaging.
On Wednesday, an aide to Beshir said Khartoum had ruled out further
negotiations with Darfur's most heavily armed rebel group, the Justice and
Equality Movement (JEM), dashing hopes of peace in the arid desert region.
Beshir's new term of office is seen as crucial for Sudan, where southern
former rebels are seeking to break away.
Last month's presidential election was a key part of a 2005 peace agreement
that put an end to a devastating two-decade civil war with the rebel Sudan
People's Liberation Movement.
"I stress that we are committed... to holding the referendum in the south on
its scheduled date, it is a commitment we will not renege on. We made a vow
and we will adhere to it," Beshir said.
He promised that referendum would take place in a "free atmosphere" and
would be monitored by local and international observers.
"We will accept, in good faith, the choice of the south, whatever the choice
may be," he said, but stressed he would work for the country's unity.
"Our position is a belief in unity. We call for it, we will plan for it and
we will work for it," Beshir said.
He also vowed to work "to achieve security and stability in Darfur," where
the seven-year-old conflict has cost the lives of 300,000 people, according
to the United Nations; 10,000, according to Khartoum.
Beshir was declared winner in the April 11-15 elections with 67 percent of
the vote but the polls were marred by accusations of fraud and logistical
problems.
His re-election was virtually guaranteed after the withdrawal of his two
main challengers ahead of polling day.
Observers from the European Union and the Carter Centre monitoring polling
said after the vote ended that the election had failed to reach
international standards.
In a speech celebrating his disputed election victory last month, Beshir
vowed to campaign for unity against the ambitions of southerners.
And on Monday, newly elected parliament speaker Ibrahim Ahmed al-Taher
focused on the referendum in his inaugural speech.
"The assembly's first task is to call upon southerners to preserve the unity
of Sudan because that is what serves their interests," said Taher, a member
of Beshir's National Congress Party, which controls parliament.
Salva Kiir, who heads the former rebel SPLM, was sworn in as the first
elected president of the autonomous region of south Sudan on Friday pledging
to campaign for independence.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----
