Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I entirely agree with the Deputy about the international presence. That is a reason the UN assessment mission is going on the ground in the next few days, following on from visits by Jan Eliasson. Much progress was made at the recent African Union meeting in Addis Ababa.

I exhorted our colleagues at the EU table, long before it was first mooted, that it was perhaps incongruous that President al-Bashir would be the chairperson of the African Union from 1 January this year while this difficulty was occurring within his own country. He was part of the solution and his government part of the problem. I welcome the position of the African Union, which is dealing with this difficult and sensitive issue. People here think the Iraqi problem is bad but this could flare up in all our faces if it is not dealt with properly and could become another war on another front in the African continent.

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