Al-Bashir: Unity needed for Darfur peace

Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has said concrete efforts are needed to implement the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in Doha. Al-Bashir, in a meeting with regional power of Darfur at the home of vice president Alhaj Adam Yusuf, said: "We are keen that this agreement will be the actual end for the regional crisis that took place at the wrong time, after starting the development process in the region in 2003."  "At that time, a number of agreements were signed for water and roads, in addition to the Jebel Marra Rural Development Project, but was however suspended due to the war," added Al-Bashir. Meanwhile, Al-Bashir stressed on the necessity of bearing responsibility and intensifying both public and official efforts for the development of Darfur, calling for lifting injustice, non-infringement of people's rights and seeking to empty camps as well as returning refugees to their villages. The Sudanese President asked the transitional authority and the governors to work together and to put their differences aside as well as work on returning Darfur to normal. Dr Tijani Cisse, head of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) said that the preparations for launching the work of the authority in El-Fasher will be completed on the eighth day of the coming month. Cisse pointed that the authority had formed committees in order to coordinate with the government of North Darfur, holding meetings with its people regarding peace and security, along with another committee in Khartoum assigned to coordinate with the federal ministries in order to provide the necessary support. However, Cisse expected that most people of Darfur will participate in the celebration along with Qatar and the concerned international institutions with peace in Darfur. He said that the authority will start working in Darfur in order to sustain peace. Finally, the government of North Darfur announced that it was prepared to launch the work of the regional authority which is expected to be attended by President Al-Bashir, the Emir of Qatar and Chad's President Idriss Deby, in addition to representatives from the African and the European Union as well as the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.