A high-level delegation representing the African Union began its visit to Sudan with consultations yesterday with Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, according to the UN-African Union hybrid operation spokesperson Noureddine Mezni.Headed by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the panel first met in Addis Ababa on March 18 during the summit of the African Union. The regional body that has vowed to lobby the UN Security Council for a resolution under Article 16 of the Rome Statute to suspend the ICC prosecutions against the Sudanese president.The eight-member panel is comprised of three former African heads of state including Mbeki, Burundi’s Pierre Buyoya and Nigeria’s General Abu Salam Abu-Bakr. It aims to submit recommendations to the AU Chairman on “how best to reconcile the fight against impunity (in Darfur) while also dealing with reconciliation and forgiveness,” according to AU Chairman Jean Ping. Some Sudanese officials have suggested that the panel would observe local judicial proceedings, but its mandate is vague.“The panel’s interactions with the Sudanese stakeholders so far suggest that everything possible must be done as speedily as possible to end the conflict in Darfur” said chairman Mbeki.“Everyone wants a long lasting solution to the conflict which must be characterised by peace and reconciliation which addresses such crimes as were committed during and in the context of the conflict as well as attending to matters of socio-economic development” he said.Mbeki resigned as president of South Africa in September 2008 just days after visiting Khartoum, following a power struggle within his party, the ruling African National Congress. He had been awarded Sudan’s Insignia of Honour during a visit in 2005. At the end of his last visit, he and President al-Bashir issued a joint communiqué against the ICC procedures. The two presidents also urged the international community to provide more logistical and financial support to the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).source: Sudan Tribune
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