By: Al Sammani Awadallah
The quartet summit that concluded last Thursday and that included the Sudanese, Chadian, Libyan and Eritrean presidents has put more pressures on the four leaders.
The summit discussed the situation in Darfur and how to convince the opponents of Darfur Peace Agreement to resort to peaceful solutions. The three countries can play more role in achieving peace and stability in Darfur by putting more pressure and influence on the armed groups in Darfur.
The challenge put on the three leaders was created from the United Nations and African Union political efforts to settle the issue as was recommended by the resolutions of the African Peace and Security Council meetings in Abuja in last November. Two envoys from the United Nations and the African Union were appointed to lead this effort.
Observers and the concerned think that the success of the two envoys' mission depends directly on the cooperation of Libya and Chad for their direct relations with the armed movements' field leaders. On the other hand, Eritrea can play a vital role in that because many of the Darfurian movements have representation in Asmara.
The first challenge put on the four leaders is how to reactivate Tripoli Agreement that was signed between Chad and Sudan. Tripoli Agreement called for deploying joint troops along the Sudanese Chadian borders to control the rebel movements across the borders. However the Chadian reluctance after the foiled military coup made it difficult to implement the Tripoli Agreement. The relation between the two countries deteriorated and witnessed great tension that added more to the Darfur crisis.
The last quartet summit also called for the implementation of the Tripoli Agreement that suggested the deployment of joint forces along the border between Chad and Sudan.
The efforts that will be exerted by Chad, Sudan, Libya, and Eritrea to solve Darfur crisis need the support of the United Nations, African Union and the international community at large to achieve the desired success. The crisis in Darfur has exerted some influence on Chad and Libya.
The United Nations and the African Union should not ignore the roles played by the leaders of four countries and their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem in Darfur. The United Nations, the African Union and the four leaders should organize and coordinate their efforts to end the sufferings of the Darfurians.