THE FILE on elusive peace and security in the Western Sudan zone of Darfur will figure high on the agenda of the regular African Union summit due to open later today in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The fate of peace mediation in Darfur and the failure of all mediators to persuade the conflicting parties, especially the anti-Khartoum regime rebels, to meet and draft a collective agenda for peace will receive prominent attention by participants, especially from countries directly involved in the Darfur issue, including Egypt. This week, President Hosni Mubarak was in Libya for a limited African summit on Darfur. Hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, the Darfur summit was attended by Sudanese President Omar Bashir. The leaders of Chad, Eritrea, Senegal, Gabon and Mauritania also took part in the brief high-level meeting that aimed essentially at examining ways necessary to persuade all parties to the conflict to participate in a meeting that would settle the issues of power and wealth-sharing in Darfur by the Khartoum regime and the rebels who are contesting decades-long development injustice inflicted upon them by the regime in Khartoum. Last October, Libya hosted a meeting in Sirt that was supposed to allow for the launch of negotiations between the Khartoum regime on the one hand, and the many factions of Darfur rebels on the other. However, due to the absence of the two main Darfur rebel movements, the meeting was adjourned, supposedly for four weeks, to allow for the coordination of stances among the rebel factions. Three months later, full inter-Darfur rebel coordination is still elusive. Meanwhile, the summit in Libya, which convened Sunday, examined ways to contain tension between Sudan and some of its neighbours, especially Chad, over allegations made by Al-Bashir of attempted interference in Darfur's affairs by lending support to certain rebel factions. The summit also examined the possibly problematic wish of Sudan to nominate itself to chair the African Union. Last year, Sudan was forced to withdraw its candidature upon pressure exercised by African countries who blamed the Khartoum regime for alleged gross human rights violations in Darfur. Judging by the analysis provided by African affairs experts in Cairo, in view of the lack of progress achieved in advancing Darfur peace talks during the past year, it is unlikely that Sudan's chances to chair the African Union will be any better this year.
