Doha conference for Darfur to be held in April

The deputy prime minister of Qatar announced that the Doha donor’s conference for Darfur will be held on 6 and 7 April 2013. The conference has been postponed twice before. Qatar’s Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud said the dates in April were set after consultations with regional and international partners, with the government of Sudan and with the Justice and Liberation Movement (JLM) of Tijani Sese. Sese, who is also head of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA), asserted that 50 to 60 percent of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) has been implemented despite the financial crisis Sudan is facing. In addition, he claimed that despite some rebel attacks and tribal clashes, the situation in Darfur has been calm and stable since the signing of the DDPD. The Doha donor’s conference had been initially scheduled for December 2012 and then rescheduled for January 2013, before being postponed to April. Sources suggest the reason is because Western donors required that Khartoum should honor a number of commitments before taking part in the conference.Radio Dabanga file photoSee also: Doha: Sudan government, JEM splinter group sign negotiations agenda (25 January 2013)