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Arab League and Darfur

Top officials from the UN and African Union will also travel to Cairo for talks on the sidelines. Meanwhile, UN aid officials are warning of severe outbreaks of disease in refugee camps for displaced people. About one million people have fled their homes in the humanitarian crisis. The Arab League meet is another embarrassment. It’s a pity that Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general had to call the meeting now. Did he not know that this was coming? He is supposed to be a senior diplomat and politician. He has been in politics for two decades. Why did he call a meeting now when only 20 days are left for the deadline of sanctions to be imposed. It would indeed be a bad situation if the League decides to take a stand now, calling for an extension of the sanctions deadline, and the world community chooses to ignore it. This will be further proof of the ineffective way of functioning of the Arab League. So, what should be done and what can be done? The League must take a stand only if it can stand by it. In the past too, it has passed certain resolutions, but it hasn’t been able to carry them out. So, how can you expect it to take a stand now? Meanwhile, one hopes that the crisis in Darfur gets resolved quickly as its delay will only hurt Sudan more. Arab League or no, the crisis must be resolved before it gets out of hand, as intervention too would be messy at that late stage.