Sudanese government negotiators begin indirect talks with western Sudan rebels
By ABAKAR SALEH Associated Press Writer
N’DJAMENA, Chad, March 31, 2004 (AP) — The Sudanese government began indirect talks on Wednesday with rebels fighting a yearlong insurgency in western Sudan, officials said.
Mediators met separately with the government delegation and two rebel groups in a bid to get the warring parties to agree to a cease-fire in Sudan’s Darfur region, said Ahmad Allam-mi, an adviser to Chadian President Idriss Deby, who is hosting the negotiations.
“The government is here (and) the rebels are here. It is up to them whether the talks will continue or fail,” Allam-mi said.
On Tuesday, the Sudanese government delegation boycotted the talks’ opening ceremony, which was attended by rebels, Deby and western and African diplomats, because of disputes over the agenda of the negotiations, Tiganni Salih Fidail, spokesman for Sudanese delegation was quoted as saying by the official Sudan Media Center.
But Allam-mi said the Sudanese government refused to attend to the ceremony because they did not want the conflict in Darfur “internationalized.”
The talks are being mediated by the Chadian government and the African Union, while U.S., European Union and French officials will have observer status.
Since the rebels took up arms in February 2003, thousands of people have been killed and more than 800,000 others forced to flee their homes in Darfur, an impoverished region that borders Chad.
The rebel groups – the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army – and refugees have accused the government of carrying out a scorched earth policy in Darfur and deliberately bombing and attacking civilians.
The government has denied the allegations.
The United States, United Nations and international aid groups have said the fighting has created a humanitarian catastrophe. Aid agencies have had only limited access to the region, and more than 110,000 Sudanese have fled into Chad.
Chad hosted talks between the government and rebels last year, but they collapsed last December.
The rebels say they are fighting for a share in power and wealth. The fighting has intensified as peace talks between the government and southern rebels fighting a 21-year-long civil war have inched toward their conclusion.