Sudan-LJM agreement means to undermine peace in Darfur – IDPs

December 10, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Darfur Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) said today opposed to the signing of a peace agreement between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) saying it means to undermine their demand for a just peace in Darfur.

The Sudanese government and LJM rebels are supposed to sign a peace agreement soon as it was announced earlier last month by the mediation from Doha before to visit the three states of Darfur during the last week of November.

This week, Darfur IDPs demanded the two main rebel groups to reunite themselves and to have a coordinated and one position over the demands of Darfur people before to engage peace talks with the government in Doha.

In statements to Sudan Tribune from Kalma camp in South Darfur, IDPs spokesperson Hussein Abu Sharati said the signing of the GOS-LJM deal is another attempt to “undermine our demands for justice and security”.

Abu Sharati criticized LJM chairman, Tijani El-Sissi; who works with one of the UN agencies, for his “connivance” with the government to implement its plans in Darfur.

He further highlighted that they informed the Joint Chief Mediator about their demands, reiterating their support to the rebel leader Al-Nur “who embodied our will on how to bring sustainable and dignified peace in Darfur”.

The Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud and the chief mediator Djibril Bassole met Kalma IDPs on November 30, 2010 to discuss their position from a series of proposals concocted by the mediation to be included in a peace agreement between Sudanese government and LJM rebels.

The IDPs spokesperson urged the international community to put pressures on Khartoum to stop violence, and to create the required conditions to provide security to civilians and IPDs in Darfur camps before their return to their villages.

The mediation is conducting consultations with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Doha and also has serious pledge from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur to move towards the peace process in order to end the seven-year conflict.

Bassole said recently the mediation works to get the two rebel movements in Doha before the signing of a peace agreement between the two parties who have concluded their negotiations.

An inclusive peace process requires including the two main rebel groups because no viable peace agreement can be implemented without their participation and the genuine support of the civil society, said Bassole in statements to the Sudan Tribune.

Last November Minister Al-Mahmoud in statements he made in Khartoum hinted that the mediation needs more time to achieve the ongoing efforts to end Darfur conflict.

The Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir said his government is preparing to conclude the peace process in Doha and working from inside the country to resolve the conflict. He however added that the two main rebel groups can sign Doha peace agreement negotiated with the LJM.

But it is widely believed by some observers and Western diplomats that Khartoum will continue to support the Doha process due to the international and regional support to this process but also because of the friendly relations with the State of Qatar.

(ST)