Darfur issue to be settled within three frameworks: Sudanese FM

   CAIRO, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail said on Sunday that the Darfur issue could be settled within humanitarian, security and political frameworks.

   "The first one will be the humanitarian one through extending relief assistance to the needy people in Darfur," Ismail told reporters after a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit.

   "The second will be the security one with Arab countries supporting the Sudanese government's capability to control the security situation in Darfur through deploying armed forces and policemen in the entire region," Ismail said.

   "The third one will be the political one," he said, voicing hope that an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to be held in Cairo later in the day would adopt a strong political stance on rejecting any foreign intervention in Sudan.

   According to an Arab diplomatic source, the Arab foreign ministers could voice their rejection to any foreign military intervention in the Darfur region.

   They would also welcome the dispatch of observers from a number of Arab countries as part of African Union (AU) forces in the region, the source added.

   As for Sudan's accusation of Israel's support for rebels in Darfur, Ismail said dissidents themselves confirmed that their leaders visited Israel on a regular basis.

   Ismail said the Sudanese government was keen on re-starting talks with the rebels later this month.

   In July, peace talks between the Sudanese government and two rebel groups in western region of Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), broke down in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, where the AU headquarters was based.

   The rebel groups took up arms against the government in February last year, claiming that their region was neglected by the successive Sudanese governments.

   On July 30, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, giving Sudan 30 days to disarm the Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, which was blamed for atrocities in Darfur, or face international sanctions.

   Darfur is considered by the United Nations the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis, which has left up to 10,000 people dead and some 1 million displaced.  Enditem