Sudan says neighbors sought to scupper Darfur peace efforts

June 5, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese official has blamed the embattled Libyan leader Muammar Al-Gaddafi and the deposed regime of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak for failure to reach a settlement to the conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

Speaking at a symposium held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Sunday, the leader of Darfur parliamentarians committee, Hasabu Mohamed Abdul Rahman, attacked the role played by regional countries in Darfur conflict, saying that the race between Libya and Egypt to gain a foothold in efforts to resolve Darfur conflict has led to the fragmentation of rebel groups and perpetuation of the conflict.

“The international and regional race to intervene in the conflict has brought about the fragmentation of rebel groups until they reached 41 movements,” Hasabu told the audience.

Hasabu, who is also a member of the government’s negotiating team to Darfur peace talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, said that Libya and Egypt had sought to scuttle Darfur peace talks with total disregard to the interests of the region’s people.

According to the Sudanese official, the Libyan leader Muammar had fomented the conflict in Darfur by funding and supporting rebel groups. He further said that Al-Qaddafi had sent his men to Doha to persuade rebel groups to demand relocation of peace talks to Tripoli.

Separately, Hasabu said the government had availed Darfur rebel groups a period of three months to sign the draft document for Darfur peace as proposed by the Qatari mediators, stressing that the government would not accept to hold negotiations outside the purview of the proposed draft.

The mediation team in Doha floated a draft framework document for peace in Darfur to serve as a ground for negotiation between the government and rebel groups. The document, which was endorsed late in May by delegates at the All Darfur Stakeholders Conference, is yet to be signed by the Justice and Liberation Movement (LJM), which is the only group currently engaged in the process.

Darfur peace talks are boycotted by the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Khalil Ibrahim.

(ST)