Addis Ababa talks on Darfur cancelled

An international civil society conference to discuss the plight of Sudan’s Darfur people will not take place after all, it has been revealed.

This is because the Sudanese Government has barred delegates from Darfur from attending the conference, which had been scheduled to begin today, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to the organisers of the Darfur Mandate Conference — the Mo Ibrahim Foundation — this new development has therefore forced them to cancel the conference altogether.

“We regret to acknowledge that the Sudanese Government is obstructing the safe passage of Darfurian delegates from Sudan, forcing us to cancel the conference,” said the foundation’s board in a statement issued Sunday.  

Senior figures

The members of this board are Dr Mo Ibrahim, Ms Lalla Ben Barka, Lord Cairns, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Ms Mary Robinson, Salim Ahmed Salim and Nicholas Ulanov.

The board members expressed disappointment that several attempts to engage the Sudanese Government to allow the delegates to travel bore no fruit.

“We have sent a delegation to Khartoum and even invited senior figures to address the conference in vain,” the statement went on.