El Fasher, 27 November 2008 - The African Union -United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and Government of Sudan (GoS) Darfur Security Integrated Task Force (DSITF), held in Khartoum yesterday its first meeting to discuss issues of common concern related to security in Darfur.

The AU-UN Joint Special Representative, Rodolphe Adada, led the UNAMID side while General Salah Abdullah, the Director-General of National Security and Intelligence, led the GoS side.

The DSITF was established by UNAMID and GoS last September, in the aftermath of incidents that took place in the Kalma IDP camp on 25 August 2008.

The two main issues that were discussed at the meeting were the establishment of a mechanism to monitor adherence to the Sudanese Presidential Announcement on 12 November 2008 of a unilateral and immediate ceasefire, and the situation in Kalma camp.

On the first issue, JSR Adada affirmed UNAMID’s readiness to monitor ceasefire on the ground, underlining the importance of bringing on board all the parties concerned to ensure the effectiveness of the mechanism. He also expressed hope for the success of the on-going efforts by the AU-UN Joint Chief Mediator (JCM), Dijibril Bassole, in collaboration with the International Community. Mr. Adada added that the efforts of the JCM would create the climate conducive to the revival of the political process which is the only means for achieving a comprehensive and lasting peace in Darfur.

Head of the GoS delegation, General Salah Abdullah reiterated his government’s commitment to the cessation of hostilities announced by the President and expressed keenness to see all parties committed to that.

UNAMD and GoS have agreed to conduct preliminary technical dialogue on the establishment of a ceasefire mechanism which will be broadly discussed once agreement on a ceasefire is reached by all concerned parties.