March 29, 2024

Where’s Gration today?

A quick note courtesy of free wi-fi  – thanks Dubai airport. Just read a report in the Sudan Tribune that U.S. envoy, Scott Gration, will not be attending the meeting in El Fasher today that is supposed to bring together the (expansive) number of international envoys and mediators involved in “resolving” Darfur.

It would be interesting to hear from the State Department why Gration is not going to be there – this would have been a great chance for the various international “leads” on Darfur to present a unified front, and goodness knows Darfur is long overdue for being dealt with in a coordinated manner.   The Sudan Tribune points towards fractures that have been present for some time between the AU-UN joint mediator Bassole, and the AU Panel headed by Mbeki, and suggests that there is also friction between Gration and the new UNAMID head, Gambari. (All of which leads me to wonder how we expect rebels to come up with a unified negotiating position when the mediators themselves can’t manage it.)

While the Sudan Tribune doesn’t mention it, an explanation for Gration’s absence might be that he prioritizing the opening of the North-South negotiations on post-referendum issues also slated to begin today – which would be telling in and of itself.  I would say stay tuned, but given that this site is blocked in Sudan it will be radio silence from me for a while . . .

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