Darfur parties mull ceasefire deal ahead of talks deadline

April 24, 2006 (ABUJA) — The Khartoum delegation to the African Union (AU) peace talks on Sudan’s Darfur region said it submitted Monday its position on a proposed security agreement ahead of a deadline to end the fighting.

Chief negotiator for the government in Khartoum Majzoub al-Khalifa said that his team’s position on the AU document has been submitted to the AU mediators.

“We have submitted our position to the AU today (Monday) and that will constitute a basis for agreement, with some amendments,” he said.

“We also stated our observations which are very essential to connect closely with the Enhanced Ceasefire (agreement) that will make a strong basis for stability and security in Darfur,” he stated.

After months of inconclusive negotiations to end the three-year-old civil war in the oil-rich region, the AU and the international community have set an April 30 deadline for wrapping up a deal at the Abuja talks.

The AU, which said Sunday that it expected to meet the deadline, presented the “final status security agreement for Darfur” to the parties during a plenary session chaired by its chief mediator Nigerian-born Sam Ibok.

Ibok told the meeting that a peace package “has to be concluded on the April 30 deadline set by the AU Peace and Security Council.”

He said the “document reflects a careful balance of the concerns and positions expressed by the parties,” and urged them to seriously consider it and submit written and oral reactions to the mediation by Monday.

The co-ordinator of the security arrangements commission, General Chris Garuba, told the parties the document provided for disarming the pro-government Janjaweed and other militias in Darfur as well as reintegration of former fighters into national security bodies.

Justice and Equality (JEM) chief negotiator Mohammed Tugod said that his group and the second rebel movement, the Sudan’s Liberation Movement (SLM), would present a joint position after studying the AU proposal.

“We cannot submit our position today (Monday) because we are still studying the (AU) proposal. The movements are going to submit a joint position when we are ready,” he said without giving a clue to when this will happen.

Up to 300,000 people have died and 2.4 million more been displaced following three years of fighting between rebels and Khartoum-backed militias in Darfur, according to international estimates.