US pushes for Darfur deal before third deadline
May 4, 2006 (ABUJA) — The Sudanese government and rebels from the Darfur region face a third deadline to make peace on Thursday with uncertainty surrounding U.S. attempts to wrangle a few last-ditch concessions from both sides.
The government of Sudan has accepted a peace plan on security, power-sharing and wealth-sharing drafted by African Union (AU) mediators, but three Darfur rebel factions refuse to sign, citing objections to many provisions of the proposed deal.
The AU has twice put back by 48 hours a deadline for an agreement to allow last-gasp diplomatic efforts which are now being led by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.
Rebels took up arms in early 2003 in ethnically mixed Darfur, an arid region the size of France, over what they saw as neglect by the Arab-dominated central government.
Khartoum used militias, known as Janjaweed and drawn from Arab tribes, to crush the rebellion. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people while a campaign of arson, looting and rape has driven more than 2 million from their homes into refugee camps in Darfur and neighbouring Chad.
Zoellick has held several rounds of talks in the past two days with the Sudanese government delegation to try and obtain a few cherries for the rebels that could persuade them to sign.
Meetings went on late into Wednesday night and the next morning as Zoellick’s team shuttled between the government, the rebels and AU mediators.
A member of the U.S. delegation said the day ahead would be unpredictable. “There will be a series of discussions, we’ll have to see as we go along how to proceed,” he said.
No details filtered out on what exactly the government may have agreed to give. The thrust of the U.S. proposal was that Khartoum should accept a detailed plan for rebel fighters to integrate the Sudanese armed forces, a key rebel demand.
JANJAWEED DISARMAMENT
In exchange, a part of the draft deal that says Khartoum must disarm the Janjaweed before the rebels lay down their weapons would be amended to better suit the government.
It is still unclear whether the rebels could be persuaded to sign.
They are split into two movements and three factions with complex internal politics and a history of infighting, making it hard for them to agree on any major decision. So far, they have insisted they were dissatisfied with many aspects of the draft.
For example, they want a post of Sudanese vice-president, a new regional government, greater representation in both national and local institutions, and individual compensation for victims of war. Mediators say they have been inflexible on these points.
However, a Western diplomat who is closely involved in the talks, said there were small signs of progress on the rebel side.
“The initial shock they felt on finding that some of the things most dear to their heart were not in the document is now fading and it’s starting to sink in that there is in fact quite a lot for them in the text,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the talks.
Peace talks have dragged on for two years in the Nigerian capital Abuja while violence has escalated in Darfur to the point that aid workers cannot reach tens of thousands of displaced people.
Louise Arbour, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, told Reuters in Khartoum the security and human rights situation in Darfur was deteriorating.
“The situation (in Darfur) is poor, bad and very alarming and what is particularly sad is to see no progress and a deterioration of the situation,” Arbour said after a two-day visit to Darfur this week.
“I am absolutely persuaded that the sexual violence against women … is worsening every day,” she said.
Further complicating the Darfur situation is a crisis in Chad, which the Darfur rebels use as a rear base and where President Idriss Deby is battling insurgents he accuses of fronting for Sudan. The two conflicts are interlocked.
Diplomats called disgruntled members of the Darfur rebel factions who are based in Chad on Thursday to try and stop them from undermining a possible deal in Abuja, said a Western diplomat.
(Reuters)