AU mediators, foreign partners in further talks on Darfur

ABUJA, June 15 (AFP) — The African Union-mediated peace talks aimed at resolving the civil war in Sudan’s western region of Darfur were to continue Wednesday with further meetings with foreign partners, the AU said.

Sudan’s Minister of Agriculture and chief negotiator, Majzoub al-Khalifa (L), addresses the fifth round of Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, June 10, 2005. (Reuters).

A potential stumbling block emerged when both the rebel groups fighting the Khartoum government strongly opposed neighbouring Chad as a co-mediator, after a Chadian delegation turned up late Tuesday and became involved in the talks.

“The meeting with our foreign partners, facilitators and observers for their comments and inputs on (a declaration of principle on power-sharing) took place this morning with the attendance of Chad as co-mediator in the talks,” AU spokesman Nouredine Mezni said.

Mediated talks between Khartoum and the rebels, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), had resumed Friday after a six-month suspension because of truce violations.

Violence broke out in February 2003 when an uprising representing the mainly black population of Darfur led Khartoum to unleash Arab militias known as Janjaweed in a campaign where they have been accused of “ethnic cleansing”, torture, rape and intimidation.

The AU mediators, with facilitators from Nigeria and Libya, have been trading views with officials from international bodies and donor nations including the United States and European countries.

Humanitarian officials say the crisis is desperate, with not enough funding to meet the effects of drought, famine and conflict. Millions of dollars would also be required for AU peacekeeping operations in Darfur, for which NATO earlier this month pledged transport and logistical assistance.

International pressure has intensified to end bloodshed that has claimed between 180,000 and 300,000 lives and displaced some 2.4 million people, especially since the end last year of a separate conflict which had engulfed oil-rich south Sudan for more than two decades.

Late Tuesday a delegation from Chad, which has an eastern border with the region and hosts some 200,000 of those displaced, arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja to join the talks, Mezni said.

But JEM’s co-negotiator Tugod Mohammed said Wednesday, “We do not even want them as an observer. We have already informed the AU about our position and this has not changed. We do not want them to participate in the talks at all.”

“I am not aware if the Chadians are here. But if they are, we will only accept them as observers at the talks but not as co-mediators,” SLM spokesman Ahmed Ibrahim said.

Chadian co-mediators, Allam-Mi Ahmed and General Mahamat Ali Abdallah, on Wednesday met AU special envoy Salim Ahmed Salim, “and also attended the meeting with the partners,” Mezni said.

He said mediators had presented a tentative programme for the endorsement of the partners.

These include the United Nations, the European Union, the Arab League, the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Norway and Egypt, which is Sudan’s Nile river neighbour to the north, with close historic ties.

By Monday, the AU had ceasefire pledges from both sides on the truce sealed last year and progress on the military side of the dispute, but the declaration of principle (DoP) lays the groundwork for further accords on power-sharing and political matters.

Mezni said consultations would go on despite the inability of the SLM to submit its contributions on the DoP. “They pleaded for more time to prepare their submission. But we expect them to do so as soon as possible,” he said.

Ibrahim told AFP Wednesday his side was ready with the document and “we will submit it to the AU this afternoon.”

“The AU mediation team has done a lot to soften the ground,” he added.

The AU has announced 292 million dollars in donations. But it wants more than 460 million dollars in cash, military equipment and logistical support to boost the AU force monitoring the Darfur truce from the current 2,700 soldiers to more than 7,700 by September.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and European Union agreed on June 9 to move swiftly to help expand the AU peacekeeping force with an airlift of some 5,000 troops to Darfur, possibly as early as July.