Sudan says recent talks on UNAMID exit from Darfur failed

Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour has disclosed failure of a recent round of meetings of a tripartite mechanism entrusted with working out a strategy for the exit of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from the region.

The tripartite committee is composed of Sudan's government, the UN and the African Union, with the aim to reach a deal on the UNAMID's exit from Darfur.

"Sudan was not the reason behind the failure of the tripartite meetings," Ghandour told reporters Wednesday.

"This was not a surprise. We were not expecting matters to progress easily as some of the big players do not want UNAMID's exit," he noted.

The Sudanese minister reiterated his country's adherence to UNAMID's exit, stressing that Sudan would continue dialogue with its African brothers, and with the support of its friends at the UN Security Council until the UN forces walk out of Darfur they the way they entered.

In the meantime, Ghandour declared that Burkina Faso pulled out from UNAMID.

"Burkina Faso notified us, through its foreign minister, that it has decided to pull out from the mission together with its notification to the AU and the UN, thus it becomes the second country to withdraw its troops from UNAMID after South Africa," he said.

On Monday, Khartoum hosted closed-door meetings for the tripartite mechanism to discus the UNAMID's exit strategy from Darfur.

The meetings were supposed to approve a report prepared by the tripartite work team, which concluded a visit to Darfur states few days ago.

Khartoum demands the termination of UNAMID mission in Darfur, arguing that the region is witnessing security stability and that the tribal violence has been contained.

However, the UN Security Council demands that the conflict in Darfur must end with the signing of a peace deal involving all armed groups and the returning of the displaced persons to their home villages. Endit