Darfur / UNAMID Media Brief

EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, April 3, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- UNAMID Media Brief / 3 April 2012

UNAMID confirms bombing in North Darfur village

UNAMID peacekeepers based in Sortony, North Darfur, yesterday visited Samara village, 5 km east of the Mission's camp, and confirmed that bombings were carried out about 250 meters from the village on 1 April 2012.

The team observed two craters with metallic fragments. There was no reported injury or death from the explosion. Villagers who had fled out of fear were seen returning back to their homes and the situation around the area has normalized.

Dissemination of Darfur peace document starts in Khartoum

Members of Darfur civil society in Khartoum and UNAMID, in coordination with the Darfur Regional Authority, organized the first workshop in Khartoum to disseminate the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

More than 70 workshops on the Document have been held around Darfur over the past two months, but the 2 April workshop held in Khartuom's Sharja Hall was the first involving the Darfuri community residing in Khartoum. Almost 200 members of Darfur students and women's organizations, native administration and local NGOs attended the event.

The organizers disseminated documents on power and wealth-sharing, compensation and returns, human rights and security arrangements.

UNAMID Khartoum Liaison Office Head Mohamed El Amine Souef told participants that the Mission has been supporting the workshops in Khartoum and Darfur and will continue to play a role in supporting the peace document.

Federal State Minister Ahmed Fadl, a member of the Liberation and Justice Movement, said that the DDPD was central to peace and he commended UNAMID for giving ownership of the document to the Darfuri stakeholders through these forums.

"The DDPD issues involve all the parties in the peace process, but comprehensive peace will not be achieved unless all parties join," he said.

"For any agreement to succeed, it should be owned by the grassroots," said Khartoum State Government representative Osman Dirar.

Several of the participants indicated skepticism of the process, raising questions as to the role of UNAMID and the role of the Darfur Regional Authority.