Dissident rebels sign Darfur peace accord

June 8, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Breakaway factions from two rebel groups that rejected last month’s peace accord for Sudan’s violence-riven Darfur region signed declarations Thursday committing themselves to the pact.

The main faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement originally signed the May 5 accord with Sudan’s government, but a splinter faction held out until Thursday, along with a faction of the Justice and Equality Movement.

“We shall be bound by the letter and spirit of the (Darfur Peace Accord) and shall assume and implement the relevant obligations… especially those related to the comprehensive cease-fire agreement,” the groups said in their declaration.

The three-year conflict in the western region of Darfur has claimed at least 180,000 lives and forced more than 2 million people to flee. One key provision in the accord calls for protection of civilians in the region.

The United Nations and aid groups have said violence has worsened since the accord was signed, as armed groups try to secure more territory ahead of implementing a cease-fire.

Decades of low-level clashes in Darfur over land and water erupted in early 2003 when rebel groups of ethnic Africans rose up against the Arab-led government in Khartoum.

The government is accused of responding by unleashing Arab militias who have been accused of committing atrocities against the African population. The government Khartoum denies any involvement.

The former holdout factions “should do their utmost to urge their respective members and fellow Darfurians to join the peace process,” the African Union’s peace and security commissioner, Said Djinnit, said after Thursday’s signing ceremony in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The U.N. Security Council and the African Union have agreed that a U.N. force should take over peacekeeping in Sudan’s Darfur region and that the African troops now on the ground must be reinforced quickly.

Both organizations stressed on Wednesday that the Sudanese government must approve the transfer – and were optimistic it would agree. The Khartoum government has been reluctant to accept a U.N. force.

If it agrees, it could be months before a U.N. peacekeeping force is in place.

(ST/AP)