May 8, May 09, 2009 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --
The foundation of Mo Ibrahim, a British telecom tycoon of Sudanese origin, cancelled a conference for civil society figures from Darfur, alleging that the government was obstructing their arrangements for the conference in Ethiopia.
"Mandate Darfur" was an effort for civil society figures to establish common positions toward reaching a negotiated solution for Darfur. The conference scheduled for May 12-16 in Addis Ababa would have brought together some 300 representatives from across the region, the biggest ever assembly of the Darfurian civil society.
However, today in a statement the Board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said "After many months of working with Darfurian civil society to build a mandate for peace, we regret to acknowledge that the Sudanese government is obstructing the safe passage of Darfurian delegates from Sudan, forcing us to cancel the conference."
"Despite numerous attempts at engagement with the Sudanese government, including sending a delegation to Khartoum and inviting senior figures to address the conference, we were greatly disappointed that Sudanese security services harassed our delegates, confiscated passports and threatened the conference coordinators in Sudan. Ultimately, the government has refused to grant exit visas to the delegates making it impossible for the conference to proceed," stated the Board.
Noting that from the beginning Mandate Darfur has endeavoured to engage with the Sudanese government, the Board questioned why the government perceives the conference as acting against it.
According to Mandate Darfur, the conference would have genuinely represented Darfur from across all geographic, ethnic, religious and political backgrounds, including traditional and young leaders and a strong contingent of Darfurian women.
The initiative is supported by the African Union, the Arab League, the United Nations, the European Union and a wide spectrum of former African leaders. Members of the foundation's Board are Dr Mo Ibrahim, Lalla Ben Barka, Lord Cairns, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Mary Robinson, Salim Ahmad Salim and Nicholas Ulanov.
Source: Sudan Tribune website, Paris in English 9 May 09
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