US welcomes Darfur peace, says more needed to end violence
May 5, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The United States praised a peace accord between the Sudanese government and the main Darfur rebel group as a “significant step” but said more efforts were needed to end fighting.
The White House said in a statement that the United States “welcomes” the accord between the Khartoum government and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Mini Menawi, the largest rebel force in strife-torn Darfur.
“This agreement is a significant step in a long process to bring peace to all the people of Darfur. We urge Khalil Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement and Abdul Wahid Nur of the SLM to join the peace process,” the statement added.
The accord offers a referendum in the western Sudanese region, where up to 300,000 people are said to have died from fighting and famine in the past three years, and obliges the government, which the United States has accused of “genocide”, to disarm and neutralise its Janjaweed militia allies by mid-October.
It also provides for the rebel movements to be represented in the Sudanese government, and creates a fund for the reconstruction of Darfur.
The White House statement praised President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, who hosted the talks, and Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso, current head of the African Union, for their efforts.
“The United States and the international community were united in pressing the parties to accept this peace agreement. We will remain united in ensuring that it is fully implemented,” said the statement.
“The United States fully supports this agreement to end the conflict and suffering in Darfur. This is an important day for the people of Darfur.”
US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who helped nail down the accord in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, said it was an “important step” toward ending the humanitarian crisis but warned it would not immediately end the fighting.
“Now we must turn to other vital steps including implementation,” an admittedly exhausted Zoellick told reporters in a conference call from Abuja.
Zoellick expressed hope the accord would produce a “significant decline” in the bloodshed in Darfur, where there are some 2.4 million homeless.
“Is it going to change overnight? I wouldn’t say that,” he added. “Darfur is going to remain a dangerous place and it’s going to remain a place of violence.”
Zoellick said monitoring the agreement would present challenges until a 7,000-strong African Union peacekeeping contingent in Darfur is beefed up and eventually expanded into a larger UN force with NATO support.
“There’s still a lot of distrust and fear on the ground. There’s a lot of danger on the ground,” he said.
Khartoum has opposed the deployment of a UN force and Zoellick could not say when it would be in place but commented, “In the aftermath of their agreement there will be a push definitely … to move forward with the UN peacekeeping force.”
Zoellick said the international community would have to support reconstruction efforts for Darfur. He said a conference would be held within three months, with the Netherlands offering to host it.
(ST)