By NNN-KUNA,
Cairo : Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa received here on Thursday Sir Derek Plumbly, the chairman of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Sudan’s north and south.
The meeting focused on the implementation of the peace accord, Plumbly told reporters, adding that he briefed the league chief on the evaluation of the peace process in Sudan three years after the process started.
The three years constitute the first half of the interim period preceding the referendum on the future of southern Sudan, due in 2011, he pointed out.
The implementation of the peace accord goes smoothly in some aspects but there are big challenges particularly in the domain of border demarcation, the British diplomat revealed.
He praised the role of the Arab League in backing the peace accord and stabilizing the situations in south Sudan.
The league is preparing for hosting an Arab meeting on investment in south Sudan which will give impetus to the development projects and improve the living conditions of residents of the area, he noted.
Meanwhile, Zaid Al-Sobyan, director of the African affairs at the office of the league’s secretary general, said Sir Plumbly briefed Moussa on semi-annual report of Assessment and Evaluation Commission involving all developments of Sudan’s peace process.
“The report included the development of relations between the peace partners namely the Sudanese government and the former rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA),” Al-Sobyan disclosed.
The relations between the peace partners were marred by the border dispute which resulted in armed clash in Abbye, a central Sudanese region with mixed population, three months ago.
“The implementation of the CPA is key to solving the crisis of Darfur, west Sudan,” Al-Sobyan asserted.
“The Arab ministerial committee, chaired by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, and the Arab Quartet, co-chaired by Moussa and president of the African Commission, are making concerted efforts to end the armed struggles in Sudan, he added.
Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir appointed the British diplomat as head of Assessment and Evaluation Commission in February following the resignation of the former Norwegian president of the AEC Tom Vraalsen last December.