Violence, rebel rifts hinder Sudan’s Darfur talks – US
Oct 4, 2005 (WASHINGTON) — The State Department’s top specialist on Sudan said Monday that efforts for peace in the Darfur region are being complicated by violence and a dysfunctional negotiating process.
“This is a major issue for us and our people in Abuja,” Winter told reporters at a State Department briefing.
If a unified delegation cannot be put together, “it is our judgment that it severely weakens the rebels’ side in the negotiations,” he said.
Another disappointment, he said, is that the former rebel group in southern Sudan, the SPLM, does not yet have a presence in Abuja almost three months after it joined with the Khartoum government in a power- sharing agreement.
The government negotiating position should moderate once SPLM officials have joined the discussions, Winter said. As former insurgents, he said, the SPLM has a lot in common with the Darfur rebels.
All the parties to the Darfur conflict – the rebels, the government, the Arab militias – have initiated attacks in the region in recent weeks, Winter said.
“There is no 100% good guy in the mix right now,” he said.
He added there is little chance that the Abuja talks can progress so long as violations of a cease-fire agreed to last year persist.
Sudanese soldiers committed acts of “calculated and wanton destruction” in Darfur during the past two weeks, according to officials of the African Union, which has sent more than 7,000 troops to Darfur to help bring stability to the region.
They said government forces attacked civilians and destroyed homes in Darfur, killing at least 44 people and displacing thousands.
The Sudanese government denies the allegations.
(AP/ST)