African mediators press efforts to break Sudan’s Darfur talks deadlock

ABUJA, Nov 8 (AFP) — African Union mediators held separate talks with representatives of the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels Monday but the two sides remained deadlocked on security arrangements for the war-torn region.

SLA rebels adorned with protective leather charms gather near a base in the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

“Consultations are continuing on the questions of security and the political declaration of principle. Mediators are meeting separately with the two sides,” a mediator told AFP.

The African Union has been trying for several days to break a deadlock over the thorny question of security. In the latest setback, Khartoum refused to join the rebels in signing a protocol which includes a clause to create a “no-fly zone” over Darfur.

A spokesman for one of the rebel groups at the talks, the Sudan Liberation Movement, told AFP they would insist that the government sign the security protocol if it wants the negotiations to move forward.

“The government must sign the security protocol unconditionally without waiting for the proclamation of the declaration of principles,” said Mahmud Hussein.

“We are in Abuja because we want to achieve peace, but if the government wants war, we are prepared,” he warned.

By Saturday, mediators had hoped to have signatures on the security protocol, a parallel deal to ensure the protection of Darfur’s 1.5 million displaced civilians and a broad declaration of political principles.

But chief mediator Ahmad Allam-Mi of Chad said three or four more days of consultations would probably be necessary in this second round of peace talks that began on October 21.

African leaders have invested a lot of hope and energy in promoting the Abuja conference as a way for the continent to halt the Darfur conflict before the UN Security Council again addresses the crisis on November 18.

The world body says tens of thousands of people have died and some 1.4 million been driven from their homes in Khartoum’s bloody 21-month-old clampdown on ethnic minority villagers suspected of supporting the rebels.

Germany and the United States have said the abuses of the army and its Arab militia allies in Darfur amount to genocide.