Sudan's vice president Thursday cautiously welcomed proposals from a panel of African leaders to end conflict in Darfur but said the question of a special court to try those charged with atrocities needed further discussion. The 15-member African Union Peace and Security Council met in Nigeria to consider the report by a team of African “wise men” led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. The report recommends the establishment of a special court, including foreign judges, to try those charged with atrocities in Darfur, where the United Nations says hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by fighting. “We go along with the deep vision contained in the report about elections being held all over Sudan, especially Darfur,” Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha told the meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. “Recommendations that need further dialogue include the establishment of a new justice mechanism. That needs closer scrutiny if it is in line with the constitution,” he said. He said such hybrid tribunals would “set a precedent” for other problems in Africa and said there needed to be further dialogue on whether there were better alternatives for Darfur. The meeting was attended by Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, his Kenyan counterpart Mwai Kibaki, South Africa's Mbeki and other delegates from around Africa. “It is my hope that our work will advance enduring peace, accountability and reconciliation in Sudan,” Yar'Adua said. Kenya said it also wanted to discuss the peace process in South Sudan, which ended a two-decade civil war with the north in 2005. “A successful conclusion to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (in South Sudan) would help bolster chances of a new peace deal and development pact for the Darfur region,” the Kenyan presidency said in a statement.
