Darfur peace deal “unlikely” to be signed before election – mediator

March 31, 2010 (DOHA) — Stakeholders in Darfur conflict may not be able to sign a peace deal before the general election in Sudan scheduled for April 11, said Djibril Bassole, the Joint Chief Mediator today.

Since last January, delegations from the government and Darfur rebel groups are gathered in Doha. But after failing to agree on one delegation to start the negotiations, the government and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) signed a framework agreement on February 23.

The move was followed by the establishment of another group, Liberation and Justice Movement, led by El-Tijani El-Sissi, former governor of Darfur but contested by many because he had not been involved in the rebellion against the government since 2003.

There are now two separate table of negotiations, but JEM and the government did not sign a peace agreement as agreed on March 15 in the framework agreement and the LJM which signed a framework agreement on March 18 is still discussing power sharing with the government and no accord is yet finalized.

“It is unlikely that a peace agreement will be concluded before the elections,” Bassole, the African Union-UN Chief Mediator told the AFP on Wednesday.

Sudanese government delegation had warned it would not be able to continue the talks after the 9 because of the elections. Amin Hassan Omer said yesterday that the process could resume after the election with the new government.

LJM rebels were expected to finalize a peace agreement with the government before the elections but seemingly they are also progress slowly.

The mediation and JEM rebels met on Tuesday and to discuss the way forward as JEM and the government stopped consultations in the Chadian capital and the parties said willing to resume talks in Doha.

Bassole said “political discussion will resume April 6,” in Doha. The two parties are expected to start the talks by the ceasefire.

However the joint mediator said it would be better to push back the date of a final agreement between the JEM and Khartoum until a new Sudanese government is formed.

“The parties have not been able to reach a final peace accord, so we must rearrange the calendar in a way to take into account the elections,” said.

(ST)