Addis Ababa meeting on Darfur "significant, successful" step - Moussa

Kuwait News Agency 19 Nov 2006 says Addis Ababa meeting on Darfur "significant, successful" step - Moussa:

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has Saturday described the recent meeting in Addis Ababa on Darfur as "a significant and successful step" towards reaching an acceptable settlement.

Moussa told reporters that the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had presented a significant work paper and proposals whose framework had been agreed upon.

He added that it had been agreed on the deployment of a joint African Union (AU) and United Nations force in the war-torn region of Darfur.

He said that a consensus had been reached stressing the importance of supporting the AU force (AMIS) and the need to put all the technical and financial resources at their disposal.

Moussa pointed to two obstacles in this regard pertaining to the number and the nature of the troops command and means of controlling the force, praising the government's good intention in this respect.

The war in Darfur erupted in February 2003 when rebels from minority tribes took up arms to demand an equal share of national resources, prompting a heavy-handed crackdown from the government forces and a proxy militia called the Janjaweed.

The conflict left 200,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million more, according to UN figures. Some sources give much higher figures. (end) mfm.ez.