Sudan cautiously welcomes African Darfur proposals

By Randy Fabi

ABUJA (Reuters) - Sudan's vice president on 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 said.

"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.

Mbeki said all the proposals in his report had been adopted by the AU but it was up to Sudan how to implement them.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said some of the recommendations in the report should be implemented immediately while others would take time. He hoped the measures would complement efforts by U.N./AU mediator Djibril Bassole.