Chad’s co-mediator role threatens Darfur peace talks

ABUJA, June 17 (AFP) — The presence of Chad in African Union-mediated talks to end the civil war in Sudan’s Darfur region threatened the negotiations because the rebels strongly opposed the neighbouring country’s role as co-mediator.

“Nothing has changed except that informal negotiations to get the talks back on track are still going on. Formal talks are yet to resume because of the row over Chad,” AU spokesman Nouredine Mezni told AFP.

He said there was nothing unusual about the hitches.

“If you recall the issue came up at the last round of the talks in December and it was resolved. We are also going to trash this one out. So there is no cause for alarm,” Mezni said.

The SLM and JEM rebel groups oppose the participation of Chad, which has an eastern border with the region and hosts some 200,000 of those displaced from the conflict, saying it is biased against them.

Fighting in Darfur broke out in February 2003 when an uprising representing the mainly black population of the region led Khartoum to unleash Arab militias known as Janjaweed, who have been accused of “ethnic cleansing”, torture, rape and intimidation.

AU special envoy on the Darfur peace talks, Tanzanian-born Salim Ahmed Salim, foreign partners, facilitators and observers were working hard to break the deadlock, Mezni said.

“We will soon get over it,” he added.

African mediators and foreign partners had produced a key Declaration of Principle (DoP) document to be adopted by the warring parties late Thursday but no progress could be made because of the row over Chad, the AU said in a statement.

The statement said all parties were consulted and had their amendments noted, then mediators met both rebel groups and the government team separately to consider the draft again.

“The delegation of the government of the Sudan made some proposals on the document. The SLM requested more time to submit its views while the meeting with JEM was deferred because of the current problem between Chad and the JEM,” it said.

Mezni told AFP more SLM delegates arrived Friday for the talks.

“We hope SLM will now make its final presentation on the DoP since its delegation has been boosted with the arrival of more negotiators,” he said.

International pressure has increased to end the war that has claimed between 180,000 and 300,000 lives and displaced some 2.4 million people, especially since the resolution last year of a separate conflict which had engulfed oil-rich south Sudan for more than two decades.

The AU-mediated talks resumed Friday after a six-month break over mutual accusations of ceasefire violations. The parties have yet to get together outside initial plenary sessions.

The AU said consultations were however going on to complete the declaration, adding that JEM negotiators had pledged to continue in the talks despite their disagreement over Chad.

JEM delegate Mohammed Tugod told AFP his group would not change his stance on the issue, insisting the AU should ask Ndjamena to withdraw.

“The Chadian delegation has to leave immediately for the sake of peace. We will neither accept them as co-mediator nor observer,” he said.

The rebel groups had earlier voiced their opposition to the Chadians, first at the weekend and then on Wednesday when a delegation turned up late Tuesday and became involved in the talks.

The SLM said Ndjamena could stay only as observer to the talks, not as co-mediator.

The Abuja peace talks which began in August 2004 has been deadlocked several times because of mutual suspicion and disagreements on some issues.

The last round of the talks was suspended last December when the parties accused each other of truce violations.