November 9, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – The chairman of the African Union (AU) high-level panel on Darfur (AUPD) Thabo Mbeki is “outraged” following remarks made by the former Egyptian foreign minister who was one of the commission’s members.
- Former South African President and AUPD chairman Thabo Mbeki
The panel has submitted a report, which was endorsed by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) last month, in accordance with its mandate containing a roadmap to achieve peace, justice and reconciliation in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.
Its formation came weeks before the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir for his alleged role in Darfur war crimes.
The timing fueled speculation that the AU is seeking to circumvent the ICC indictment of Bashir particularly in light of the pan-African body position opposing the warrant.
In his meetings with Darfur IDP’s, Mbeki vehemently denied that his mission to find an escape route for Bashir.
However, Ahmed Maher El Sayed one of the AUPD members made remarks earlier this month to the contrary.
“Incriminating the president is out of question and fundamentally unacceptable” the former Egyptian foreign minister said in an interview with the Egypt based Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
“Our goal was to find a way out [to Bashir] from the dilemma of the ICC that sparked a great deal of controversy,” Maher said.
Abdel-Wahab El-Effendi, a pro-Islamist Sudanese political analyst who traveled with the panel revealed that Mbeki was angered by statements attributed to Maher.
He disclosed that the former South African president wrote a “strongly worded letter” to the Egyptian foreign ministry protesting Maher’s remarks.
El-Effendi said that Maher declined to join the team in its tours of Darfur “citing dangers to him being an Arab”.
Alex De Waal, a Sudan expert who was also an adviser to the panel corroborated El-Effendi’s story in his blog saying that people “should examine the record of Minister Maher’s participation in the activities of the Panel. I did not see him a single time in Darfur or Khartoum”.
Maher, was confronted in the last meeting of the AUPD by his peers who gave him choice between withdrawing or signing off on the report as is, El-Effendi added.
The Sudanese columnist acknowledged that Maher’s remarks “gave ammunition” to those who argued that the ulterior motives of Mbeki’s panel is to protect Bashir.
Darfur rebels reacting to Maher’s statements said they were not surprised by them stressing that it proves their earlier point of view.
The AUPD called for a hybrid court with participation of foreign judges to try war crimes suspects and changes to Sudanese laws. It took no position on the ICC warrant except to say that the Hague-based tribunal cannot try all the suspects, effectively supporting its work.
However, the Sudanese government rejected the proposal and emphasized the need to preserve the independence of Sudanese judiciary and conforming to the constitution on the matter.
El-Effendi said that the hybrid court recommendation is “not realistic” arguing that the Sudanese government “cannot prosecute itself”.
The UN says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in the western region of Darfur first rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003.
The Sudanese government disputes the death toll saying 10,000 people died.
(ST)
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