Sudan under pressure as Darfur peace deadline nears
April 27, 2006 (KHARTOUM) – Khartoum, facing a Sunday deadline to clinch a peace deal with Darfur rebels, is already under intense international pressure after being slapped with sanctions against four key figures in the conflict and locked in a bitter row with neighbouring Chad.
African Union mediators on Tuesday presented the warring parties in the devastated western region with a draft peace agreement and urged to them to sign the deal by April 30.
The conflict, which began in February 2003 when rebels rose up against the Khartoum government, has left some 300,000 people dead and displaced at least 2.4 million.
A spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) said it viewed the plan’s stances on power-sharing and disarmament as too tailored to Khartoum’s demands.
“The peace plan is much closer to the government’s plans as opposed to being balanced,” Mahjoub Hussein said by phone from Libya on Thursday.
“The movement can absolutely not disarm until after the end of the six-year transition period” proposed by the plan, he said. “This is a red line for the SLM.”
The SLM was examining the deal and would give its response within two days to the AU, which is sponsoring negotiations in Abuja.
The proposed settlement was unveiled as the UN Security Council imposed a travel ban and economic sanctions on four Sudanese blamed for bloodshed and rights abuses in Darfur, including rebel, government and allied militia leaders.
US President George W. Bush followed suit on Thursday, slapping sanctions against the same four individuals that froze any assets in the United States and prohibited US individuals and companies from business dealings with them.
More sanctions may follow if the parties do not reach agreement ahead of the Sunday deadline.
Sudan on Wednesday denounced the UN sanctions as a “negative message” that could undermine the peace talks.
US ambassador John Bolton said the UN move showed “the Security Council is serious in its efforts to restore peace and security in the region and, far from interfering in the peace process in Abuja, it will strengthen that process.”
But after three years of conflict and famine, Darfur is exposed to even more violence by a breakdown in relations between the government and Chad, which has abandoned its role as peace mediator.
A rebel assault earlier this month on the Chadian capital of N’Djamena by forces aiming to topple the president led Chad to break off diplomatic relations with Sudan, claiming the rebels were supported by Khartoum.
Chad also withdrew its delegation from the AU-brokered peace talks on Darfur, which were launched two years ago in N’Djamena.
An African diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity admitted they had “lost a key broker, who played a central part in every mediation effort between the rebels and Khartoum.”
Sudan, which has vociferously denied any involvement in the failed coup attempt that left a reported 400 people dead, described Chad’s departure as “regrettable”.
Meanwhile, Bolton also pressed Sudan this week to reconsider its staunch opposition to a foreign peacekeeping force to replace overstretched AU soldiers later this year.
Hedi Annabi, the deputy undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, on Wednesday briefed the Security Council on his discussions with Sudanese and AU leaders on the prospects for a transition from the AU force to the United Nations.
Sudanese leaders indicated that “at this time they are not in favor of a transition to a UN operation” but that after any peace deal, “they would be prepared to discuss how the UN could help implement an agreement,” Annabi said.
UN chief Kofi Annan has proposed replacing the 7,000-strong, poorly equipped AU force that has failed to restore order in Darfur with a UN-led mission, an idea that the African Union has supported but Khartoum has rejected.
(ST)