Africa puts hope in Darfur talks as Sudan dismisses UN ultimatum

ABUJA, Aug 26 (AFP) — Sudan’s government defiantly dismissed a UN deadline for it to disarm its proxy militia in the Darfur region, insisting it would resolve the conflict there through ongoing African Union peace talks.

The talks here between the government and Darfur’s rebel groups entered their fourth day with delegates seeking to put a row over disarmament to one side in order to tackle a mounting humanitarian crisis in the western region.

Meanwhile, Nigeria confirmed the imminent deployment of 150 troops to protect African Union ceasefire monitors in Darfur.

As the delegates arrived at the Abuja venue, Sudan’s chief negotiator brushed aside the UN Security Council’s August 30 deadline for the restoration of peace in Darfur, insisting that it was concentrating on the Abuja dialogue.

Asked whether Sudan would seek to meet the terms of the UN ultimatum, which is backed by a threat of sanctions, Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa said: “Not at all. It’s never crossed our minds or our hearts.”

“We are working towards our duties to our people. We are a dignified people. It’s not our aim to set dates. What is going to happen is that the deadline will pass and we are going to continue negotiations,” he said.

“I think this thing (the Abuja peace talks) will finish in three or four or five days,” he added. Other delegates and organisers agreed with the minister’s estimated timescale.

Al-Khalifa’s declaration came as the UN envoy to Sudan accused the government of dragging its feet over the issue of disarming its proxy militia.

“In Khartoum, we hear a lot of fine words, but the situation in Darfur has not changed much,” Jan Pronk said in Khartoum. “The UN doesn’t want promises, but their fulfilment.”

The government-backed Janjaweed Arab militia has been accused of massacring civilians during Darfur’s 18-month-old civil war.

More than 1.4 million people have been driven from their homes during the fighting, and more than 30,000 killed, according to the United Nations.

The UN also wants guarantees on the delivery of humanitarian aid, troops to be withdrawn from around refugee camps and information on those suspected of atrocities, Pronk said.

In Abuja, the talks were halted for a couple of hours after a powercut plunged the hall at the Abuja International Conference Centre into darkness.

But some progress was made in discussing ways to improve the catastophc humanitarian crisis in Darfur, delegates and observers said.

“Arrangements have been made already in the contact between the UN and AU to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Darfur,” Nigeria’s foreign minister Olu Adeniji told reporters.

“And by the report of everybody there, there is tremendous improvement in the modalites for supplies,” he added.

“We are hopeful. Both sides are committed to an early solution and therefore they are talking. So the fact that they are talking means that they may reach agreement,” he said

If agreement can been reached on the humanitarian problem, delegates will move on to the issue of security and likely disputes over a timetable for disarming the rebels and over the possible deployment of AU peacekeepers.

Earlier in the week, the talks teetered on the brink of collapse after rebel leaders had belatedly objected to a mention on the agenda of their force’s eventual “cantonment”, or demobilisation.

The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) insist that they will not lay down their arms until they have reached a comprehensive political settlement with Khartoum.

The insurgents are seeking greater political autonomy and a greater share of the national income for their western region and others which they claim have been marginalised by a minority regime in Khartoum since independence in 1956.

For its part the government wants a political settlement to be postponed until after stability returns to Darfur, and is looking to the African Union to persuade the rebels to stand down.

For many in the international community, a peacekeeping force such as the 2,000 to 3,000 deployment proposed by the African Union would be key to ensuring an end to ethnic and political violence in Darfur.

But Sudan has insisted that such a force, which it has yet to formally approve, would be solely responsible for demobilising and disarming rebels and would have no role in protecting civilians or aid shipments.

In the meantime, the only international military presence in Darfur is a 150-strong company of Rwandan troops, sent to protect AU ceasefire monitors.

On Thursday, Adeniji said that they would rapidly be joined by 150 Nigerians within 48 hours.