Darfur peace talks collapse as rebels walk out
By LAEKE MARIAM DEMESSIE, Associated Press Writer
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, July 17, 2004 (AP) — African Union-sponsored talks to end the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Sudan’s western Darfur region collapsed Saturday with two rebel groups saying the government still isn’t implementing existing peace agreements.
“These talks are now finished,” said Ahmed Hussain Adam, speaking for both his Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Army. “We are leaving Addis Ababa.”
African mediators worked late into the night to try and save the negotiations, which got underway Thursday at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
But the rebels insisted the government fulfill a list of previous commitments before beginning a fresh round of talks. The two groups walked out of the negotiations Saturday without having met the government delegation.
Sudanese government representatives and mediators from the AU and Chad could not immediately be reached for comment.
Chief among the rebels’ demands was an internationally supervised timeline for Sudan to make good on its promise to disarm the shadowy Arab militias accused of killing tens of thousands of black Africans and driving more than a million from their homes in a systematic campaign of terror.
The insurgents were also seeking government commitments to respect previous agreements, allow an international inquiry into the killings, prosecute those responsible, lift restrictions on humanitarian workers and release prisoners of war. Finally, the insurgents wanted a more neutral venue for future negotiations, arguing that Ethiopia has close ties with Sudan.
“There’s no progress being made because the government has refused these demands,” said Adam.
He said government-backed attacks continued as recently as Thursday, when militia fighters known as the Janjaweed raided the southern Darfur village of Majreia, killing 17 people. His claim could not be independently verified.
Most of the rebels’ demands were contained in a widely ignored cease-fire deal signed April 8 with the government.
Sudan also signed an agreement with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on July 3 calling for disarming the Janjaweed, deploying soldiers, facilitating aid and allowing international troops and monitors into Darfur.
However, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Thursday in Khartoum that his government needed more time to implement its commitments in Darfur, a vast and remote region the size of Iraq.
Nomadic Arab tribes have long been in conflict with their African farming neighbors over Darfur’s dwindling water and usable land. The tensions exploded into violence in February 2003 when the two African rebel groups took up arms over what they regard as unjust treatment by the government in their struggle with Arab countrymen.
The rebels, and the refugees, accuse the government of arming and providing air support to the Janjaweed who have torched hundreds of villages in a scorched earth policy human rights groups equate with ethnic cleansing. The government denies any involvement in the militia attacks.
The United Nations estimates up to 30,000 people have been killed in the raids, and the rebellion that triggered them, but some analysts put the figure much higher. The death toll could surge to more 350,000 if aid doesn’t reach more than 2 million people soon, the U.S. Agency for International Development has warned.
The latest peace initiative follows a concerted diplomatic push by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who visited the region earlier this month.
Powell said Friday that he expects to hear from U.S. experts next week on whether Sudan officials should be charged with genocide.