According to MENA, Dr. Jean Ping, AU Commission Chairperson, welcomed the Darfur Peace Deal signed on Thursday by the Sudanese regime and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) in Doha. The signing ceremony witnessed the attendance of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Sudanese President Omaral-Bashir, the Vice-President of the AU Commission Erastus Mwencha and number of African heads of states. In a statement issued by the AU, Ping stated that the new deal could pave the way for launching a promising political process in Darfur based on a tripartite consensus between the AU, the United Nations (UN), and the Sudanese parties of the conflict. Additionally, Ping expressed the willingness of theUnited Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to facilitate the peace process in Darfur as soon as possible. In the same regard, Ping called the other Darfurian armed rebel movements to end their aggressive acts and join the peace process, as to end the suffering of civilians in the province. Ping, moreover, praised the remarkable mediating efforts of the Qatari Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud and the former African Union and the United Nations mediator Djibril Bassole.
