TRIPOLI, Libya, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A five-way African summit rejected non-African interference in Sudan's war-torn province of Darfur, opting for a strictly African solution.
The leaders of Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Nigeria said at the end of their meeting in Tripoli late Sunday the Darfur conflict, described by the United Nations as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, should be resolved within the framework of the African Union.
The summit called on the international community to back Sudan's ability to deal with the humanitarian crisis by providing financial and logistic support.
"The summit calls on Sudan to take the necessary measures for the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1556 and 1564, and welcomes Khartoum's decision to increase the number of African observers and troops protecting them in Darfur," a final statement said.
The leaders, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Idriss Deby of Chad and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, who is also the current rotating president of the African Union, commissioned Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to follow up the implementation of the summit's recommendations and establish contacts with the concerned parties in a bid to resolve the Darfur conflict peacefully.
Gadhafi said at an opening speech Saturday he was ready to place his country's capacities at the disposal of the African Union to help resolve the conflict which displaced more than 1 million people.
Political sources said the African leaders discussed means to ensure assistance, including food and shelter, to the refugees and ways to achieve stability through the disarmament of warring militias, including the pro-government Janjaweed and the Darfur rebels.
