Gaddafi cautions West over Darfur

TRIPOLI – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi cautioned the West on Saturday over involvement in the standoff in Sudan’s western Darfur region and restated his opposition to international peacekeepers.

Gaddafi made the remarks as he welcomed international envoys to Libya for talks on Darfur, where four years of fighting between rebels, government forces and Arab Janjaweed militia have killed at least 200 000 people and displaced some 2,5 million, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. “My advice to the world, after this conference and finding solutions to the issue, is to ignore the disputing parties if they don’t respond to these solutions,” Gaddafi told the envoys from the United Nations, African Union (AU), United States and a string of Western and African countries.”I call on (the world) not to finance them materially and to stop supporting them and not to send international forces,” he said as he received the officials in his home town of Sirte.Gaddafi styles himself as an African nationalist seeking African solutions to the continent’s problems without relying on the West.His opposition to international peacekeepers is strongly at odds with the stance of the United States, which blames Sudan for what it says is genocide in Darfur.Along with Britain, Washington demands Sudan accept a combined AU and United Nations force of more than 20 000 troops and police or face international sanctions that could include a complete arms embargo.So far Khartoum has agreed to accept just 3 500 UN military and police personnel on top of the existing AU force of about 5 000 that is badly overstretched.The meeting was chaired by Libya’s Africa minister Ali Treiki.He said a mechanism was needed to first bring together the neighbouring countries affected by the conflict – Sudan, Libya, Chad and Eritrea – and then the Sudanese factions which had not signed the peace deal.He said a meeting with the parties that had not signed should happen in the next three weeks, without specifying where.In his earlier comments, Gaddafi was critical of the rebels.”I see that the rebel side in the region is the one which endeavours to implicate the world in this issue,” he said.”It is not in the interest of the world to intervene in an issue in which one of the parties doesn’t want a solution.”The Tripoli talks, due to end yesterday, brought together special Darfur envoys from the UN, AU, the United States, European Union and Britain, and ministers or officials from Sudan, Eritrea, Chad, Egypt, France, Canada, Norway and Russia.Nampa-Reuters”My advice to the world, after this conference and finding solutions to the issue, is to ignore the disputing parties if they don’t respond to these solutions,” Gaddafi told the envoys from the United Nations, African Union (AU), United States and a string of Western and African countries.”I call on (the world) not to finance them materially and to stop supporting them and not to send international forces,” he said as he received the officials in his home town of Sirte.Gaddafi styles himself as an African nationalist seeking African solutions to the continent’s problems without relying on the West.His opposition to international peacekeepers is strongly at odds with the stance of the United States, which blames Sudan for what it says is genocide in Darfur.Along with Britain, Washington demands Sudan accept a combined AU and United Nations force of more than 20 000 troops and police or face international sanctions that could include a complete arms embargo.So far Khartoum has agreed to accept just 3 500 UN military and police personnel on top of the existing AU force of about 5 000 that is badly overstretched.The meeting was chaired by Libya’s Africa minister Ali Treiki.He said a mechanism was needed to first bring together the neighbouring countries affected by the conflict – Sudan, Libya, Chad and Eritrea – and then the Sudanese factions which had not signed the peace deal.He said a meeting with the parties that had not signed should happen in the next three weeks, without specifying where.In his earlier comments, Gaddafi was critical of the rebels.”I see that the rebel side in the region is the one which endeavours to implicate the world in this issue,” he said.”It is not in the interest of the world to intervene in an issue in which one of the parties doesn’t want a solution.”The Tripoli talks, due to end yesterday, brought together special Darfur envoys from the UN, AU, the United States, European Union and Britain, and ministers or officials from Sudan, Eritrea, Chad, Egypt, France, Canada, Norway and Russia.Nampa-Reuters