US, UN intervene to rescue of Darfur peace deal
May 1, 2006 (ABUJA) — Talks on the future of the western Sudanese region of Darfur continued after the African Union extended a peace deal deadline, while a senior US diplomat flew in for the last-ditch push to secure agreement between the warring sides.
A deadline of Sunday night passed with the two chief rebel groups saying they could not accept the deal, but AU mediators extended the discussions by a further 48 hours.
The United States, which has accused the Khartoum regime and its allied Janjaweed militia of genocide against the local Darfur population, announced Monday it was sending Deputy US Secretary of State Robert Zoellick to the talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha, however, was leaving the Abuja talks after apparently stating the Khartoum government’s firm position.
Taha would leave the Nigerian capital after he “has made clear the position of the national unity government with regards to the different issues”, the regime’s chief delegate Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed told reporters in the Sudanese capital by telephone from Abuja.
The African Union on Monday called on the warring parties from Sudan’s Darfur region to sign the peace deal it had brokered to end their three-year conflict, saying further delay would only cause more suffering and “indiscriminate violence”.
The four parties in the conflict — the two rebel groups plus the Sudanese government and pro-Khartoum Janjaweed militias blamed for a raft of abuses in Darfur — were all poised to sign the accord before two insurgent groups, the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), rejected the deal.
The AU hailed the Khartoum government’s decision to accept the deal and urged the rebel movements to do the same, “in the interest of the Darfur people, who cannot take more suffering”.
“I must remind the leaders of the parties meeting in Abuja that each day that passes leads to more suffering and the deaths of innocent civilians from indiscriminate violence,” said AU Commission President Alpha Oumar Konare in a statement.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan added his voice to calls for the rebels to accept the deal on offer.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement that Annan “urges the parties, particularly the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), to redouble their efforts to come to an agreement without delay, so that the suffering and destruction in Darfur can be brought to an end.”
Objections raised by the Darfur rebels include claims that the AU document — which they said they had received in English on March 10 but in their native Arabic only on Saturday — did not consider giving a government vice presidency to the Darfur region, nor did it adequately resolve other power-sharing and wealth distribution issues.
The rebels also want more precise undertakings about the disarming of the Janjaweed and compensation for those affected by the war, as well as a firm guarantee that the peace accord will be implemented.
Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for the parties mediating between the Sudanese government and the rebels, said that an agreement document was being finalised.
“As soon as this is ready we’ll invite them to come and sign it. Consultations are going on,” he said.
“The extension of the deadline does not have any meaning for us,” said Saifaldin Haroun, spokesman of the main faction of the SLM.
“The AU peace proposal does not address our crucial demands,” he said.
The Khartoum government delegation said it was willing to negotiate.
“The door is not closed,” spokesman Abdul Rahman told reporters. “I think the government is ready for negotiations in the coming 48 hours.”
(ST)