Rebels splits, govt failure to disarm militia block peace in Darfur

Oct 6, 2005 (NAIROBI) — Splits among Darfur rebels plus the failure of Sudan’s government to stop Arab militia marauding in the western region are blocking efforts to end one of Africa’s worst conflicts, a think-tank said on Thursday.

In a report on the 2 1/2-year-old war that has been termed “genocide” by the United States, the International Crisis Group warned that peace talks in Nigeria had “little hope” without changes on the ground from all parties.

“The Khartoum government continues to flout its numerous commitments to neutralise its allied proxy militia, the Janjaweed,” the ICG said in a report released in Nairobi.

“But the problem is not just on the government side … The slow implosion of the rebel movements threatens to extend the tragic situation in Darfur indefinitely.”

Since two rebel groups took up arms in early 2003 demanding greater wealth and power-sharing from central government in Khartoum, tens of thousands of people have been killed in remote Darfur, a vast and arid area the size of France.

More than 2 million have also fled their homes during a campaign of beating, rape, killing and burning of villages that rebels blame on pro-government militia called Janjaweed.

While the international community has largely focused on pressuring Khartoum, the ICG said attention must also swing to the two rebel movements: the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

“The SLA … is increasingly an obstacle to peace,” it said, citing attacks on humanitarian convoys, armed clashes with the JEM and divisions among SLA political leaders.

“DIVIDED AND PARALYSED”

“A divided and paralysed SLA virtually guarantees a continued conflict and is a disaster for the people of Darfur.”

The JEM has similar problems, though it is less important militarily and suspect among many in Darfur for its more nationalist and Islamist agenda, the report added.

Disarray among the Darfur rebels came to the fore this week in Nigeria with a boycott threat from an SLA faction.

For those Abuja negotiations to be successful, the SLA and JEM’s political leaders need to hold conferences to consult their membership in Darfur so as to align positions, ICG said.

“As long as the rebels, the SLA in particular, remain divided and the fighting in Darfur continues, there is little hope for real success at the African Union-sponsored peace talks in Abuja, since the government is likely to exploit and exacerbate rebel weaknesses at the table,” the report said.

Differences between the SLA and JEM have boiled over this year, with killings on either side in May where “the ferocity of fighting showed how far apart the movements have drifted.”

On the other side, Khartoum’s Arab authorities show little change towards Darfur despite foreign disapproval and dilution of their power under an accord with southern rebels to create a new power-sharing government, ICG said.

“The architects of the ethnic cleansing there have retained significant power in the new government of national unity, which thus far remains unwilling to take the military and political steps needed to resolve the conflict: neutralising the Janjaweed militias and establishing genuine power and wealth sharing between Darfur and Khartoum,” the ICG said.

(Reuters)

Full txet of the report is available at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3723