US proposals for Darfur peace not enough: rebels

May 3, 2006 (ABUJA) — US proposals to save the Darfur peace talks do not go far enough to meet the demands of the rebels who derailed an African Union settlement proposal, one of the region’s insurgent groups said.

A spokesman for the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) welcomed the intervention of US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who suggested modifications to the AU plan in order to broker a last-minute compromise.

But Seif Haroun said that unless the peace deal included a proposal to turn the devastated western Sudanese region of Darfur into a unitary administrative unit — it is currently divided into three states — it would fail.

“The US government’s initiative is a good step forward for negotiations. We are happy about it, but it still falls short of our expectations because it has left out our crucial demand for a Darfur region,” he said.

“The Darfur region issue is the main issue in our demand. The issue of region is not something we are going to negotiate away because that is where our key interest is,” he said.

Under the African Union plan, the people of Darfur would be allowed to hold a referendum on coming together as one autonomous region once fighting has halted and national elections are held, perhaps in several years’ time.

Sudan’s government has already accepted the AU peace plan and has made positive noises about the US version. A second rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), has yet to make its position clear.

(ST)