AU pushes for progress in Darfur talks as tension eases over Chad

ABUJA, June 20 (AFP) — The African Union was Monday pushing for progress to be made in ongoing talks to bring peace to western Sudan’s Darfur region as tension eased over Chad’s co-mediation role, an AU spokesman said.

Chairman of the African Union summit on Darfur crisis Salim Ahmed Salim (L) addresses participant while African Union secretary general Alpha Konare (C) 10 June 2005, during a summit on Darfur crisis in Abuja. (AFP).

“All-round consultations will continue today between the mediation team, the partners, observers, facilitators and the warring parties,” Nouredine Mezni told AFP.

He said the AU was expecting the final contribution from one of two rebel movements fighting the Khartoum government, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), to a revised declaration of principle.

“JEM was supposed to have made its submission last night, but it didn’t. We expect it today,” he said.

“As soon as we have it, there will be a meeting of the mediators and partners to review JEM’s document in the light of the earlier submissions of the two other parties — the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the government of Sudan,” he said.

The declaration of principle, the basis for a future accord, reaffirms Sudan’s unity and territorial integrity, respect for its ethnic and religious diversity and calls for an end to impunity for human rights violators.

AU mediators want these points agreed on before tackling the sensitive issues of power sharing, distribution of wealth and security.

“Once discussions and agreements have been reached on the document, the next stage is to convene a plenary session for its adoption,” Mezni said.

The Abuja talks, which opened on June 10, had deadlocked over strong opposition by the two rebels groups to allowing neighboring Chad to act as co-mediator, on the grounds that it was biased against them.

On Sunday, the SLM — which earlier said it would only accept Chad as an observer — backed down on this hardline stance.

An SLM spokesman told AFP his group had changed its stand.

“We support Chad as co-mediator because the country has played a very important role in the peace process in Darfur,” Mahgoub Hussein said.

“Chad is here to help Darfur to achieve peace. We accept them in any capacity,” he added.

But the JEM was still adamant in its opposition to Ndjamena’s participation.

“There won’t be any progress in the peace talks until Chad is asked to withdraw. This has been our position and nothing will change it,” JEM delegate Mohammed Tugod told AFP.

Chad has an eastern border with Darfur and hosts some 200,000 of the 2.4 million people estimated to have been displaced by the conflict while between 180,000 and 300,000 were believed to have been killed.

The civil war in Darfur has drawn global attention to what has become one of the world’s wost humanitarian crises.

The peace talks taking place in the Nigerian capital resumed after a six-month break over mutual accusations of ceasefire violations. The parties have yet to get together outside initial plenary sessions.

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