Darfur holdout rebels to meet Libyan leader

July 2, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Darfur holdout rebel groups would meet in the coming days the Libyan leader in a bid to explain their position, and to persuade him to plaid their cause with the Sudanese government

The spokesman of the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement advance delegation currently visiting Khartoum, Mahjoub Hussein, said Sunday that parties rejecting Abuja peace deal would visit Libya within a couple of days for talks on the agreement.

The meeting was initially scheduled for the 2 July.

In a statement, Hussein said it sought Libya’s support in this regard during a visit by Abdelsalam al-Turayki, the secretary of African Union Affairs at Libya’s General People’s Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, to the Sudanese capital to take part in Somalia’s reconciliation meetings.

The SLM Minawi now is de facto divided in two wings, a wing engaged in Khartoum with the Sudanese government to implement the Darfur peace agreement, and another demands the suspension of the DPA.

The wing engaged in the peace deal is eager to see holdout groups and the second wing joining the peace deal.

Nonetheless the position of Minawi faction in favour of the current deal is fragile. Two factors make them more vulnerable. The mounting pressure on the ground in Darfur against Abuja deal, and recently the statement published by the UN envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk saying that the peace deal should be modified to meet holdout rebels demand.

Analysts expect that in Tripoli meeting, the rebel groups would be more intransigent and would urge the Libyan leader to put pressure on Khartoum to meet all their demands. But such a posture could undermine the Libyan mediation.

(ST)