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This is the first encounter we have had with officials of the national Government. We haven’t had any contacts with officials of the Government of the south, or other stakeholders, or the NGOs, and so on. So we are still digesting what we heard this morning. And we look forward to receiving some more assessment of the scene here.
But I want to reiterate that our mission is to help move forward the process towards the referendum. We have no organizational capacity to help – ours is much more a good offices one.
So this morning we started by getting an assessment from the Minister of Foreign Affairs about where the process of the referendum has come to. Specifically, he gave us an enlightenment about the situation in Abyei, and the talks that are going on in Addis Ababa, and we look forward to hearing from the south, their views on these developments.
We hope that these talks can conclude satisfactorily in the shortest possible time so that the process of arranging for the referendums can be accelerated. I thank the Minister and his colleagues for welcoming us so warmly and facilitating our stay and our contacts with officials of the Government, institutions and the NGOs that are related in this process.
I have assured him that we will discharge our mandate as good officers as competently as we can. I have explained to him that UNMIS is helping us very well indeed in all spheres. They will carry on with their work of working closely with the Government [inaudible], and we will carry on our work of – not oversight – but observing and monitoring as closely as we can, and as cooperatively as possible.
Otherwise it’s to commend this process, to wish it Godspeed, so that you can consolidate the peace that was won six years ago, the CPA, and do everything possible to ensure there is no possibility of a renewal of conflict in this great country.
Thank you very much.
