ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said today that the crisis in Sudan’s western region of Darfur is his personal responsibility now that he has been elected to head the African Union.
Gadhafi, whose history in brokering peace between Sudan and neighboring Chad has been plagued with foibles and failures, warned the two countries not to use the vast western Sudan region as a battleground.
A conflict between rebels and government forces in Darfur that began in 2003 has killed 300,000 people and caused a humanitarian crisis that has seen 2.7 million flee their homes, some entering neighboring Chad.
In recent months, Darfur rebel groups believed to be supported by Chad have taken key positions in the region, prompting counterattacks by Sudanese forces.
In December, Chadian rebel groups signed a unity pact in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
“It is my duty to step in and try to solve this,” Gadhafi said during his first news conference as AU chairman. On Monday, he was elected to the post, which is a rotating position held by heads of state for one year. It gives the holder some influence over the continent’s politics but carries no real power.
Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya since he seized power in a coup in 1969, warned the two nations not to violate the AU’s rules, which forbid members or rebel groups from overthrowing other governments.
“In my capacity as chairman of the African Union, we should make sure that Sudan and Chad apply this constitutive act,” he said, referring to the AU’s charter. “Any country that violates the constitutive act will be penalized.”
He did not elaborate on the possible penalties, but the AU usually punishes offenders first with censure and then, if there is no change, suspension from membership. The latest countries to receive such treatment are Guinea and Mauritania after their respective militaries staged coups against elected governments in recent months. Both nations remain suspended.
Gadhafi has mediated, but failed to resolve, the Darfur crisis before. He also has tried without success to smooth out the sometimes frosty relations between Sudan and Chad.
In the past Sudan and Chad have accused each other of supporting the other’s rebel groups. Rebels took up arms in Darfur region in 2003, citing neglect and marginalization by the central government.
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