SLM’s Minawi invited to visit Washington
July 11, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. has invited the Darfur rebel leader who agreed to peace with Sudan to visit Washington amid signs the African Union-brokered accord is in danger of unraveling because of infighting and violence against civilians.
Minni Arkou Minawi, leader of one of two feuding factions within the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army that has warred with the central government in Khartoum, will visit later this month for about a week, a State Department official who asked not to be identified said.
The discussions with U.S. officials will explore how to get other rebels to sign the accord.
Among rebel leaders in Darfur, only Minawi was persuaded by U.S. negotiator Robert Zoellick to support the power-sharing agreement in May. Now Minnawi is facing rising opposition to his leadership among commanders in northern Darfur, including those from his Zaghawa ethnic group, according to the United Nations.
The three-year conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians and forced about 2.5 million from their homes in what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The U.S. has accused Sudan’s government of committing genocide in Darfur.
A report issued this week by the UN Mission in Sudan cited allegations by internally displaced Sudanese that Minnawi’s faction “was indiscriminately killing, raping women and abducting” civilians.
And the UN’s top envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said July 6 that the peace agreement is in jeopardy of collapse and violence is worsening due to clashes among rebel factions and increased attacks on civilians by pro-government militias.
PLANNED UN MISSION
The agreement is part of an effort to stop the bloodshed. The U.S. also considers crucial the transformation of a 7,000- person African Union force patrolling Darfur into a 15,000- member UN military mission. “I speak frequently with my secretary of state on this issue to make sure that we expedite the arrival of augmented troops to save lives,” President George W. Bush said on July 6.
While Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir opposes the insertion of UN troops, negotiations are continuing in an attempt to change his mind.
The State Department official said Minawi’s itinerary was still being determined, including whether he would confer with Bush at the White House. National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said late yesterday he had nothing to announce about the president’s schedule.
Colin Thomas-Jensen, advocacy and research officer for Africa in the Washington office of the International Crisis Group, a policy research organization, said Minawi’s weakening position is undermining the accord.
WAY FORWARD
“The U.S. does find itself in a difficult situation because it trumpeted this agreement as the solution, as the way forward for Darfur,” Thomas-Jensen said. “However what most people agree is the way forward is the UN peacekeeping force.”
To entice Minawi to sign the Darfur agreement, Bush promised the rebel chief in a personal letter that the U.S. “will strongly support implementation of the peace accord” and will insist that any party not cooperating “be held accountable by the UN Security Council.”
Minawi’s rival who refused to sign the accord is Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nur, who has support among the Fur people, the largest ethnic group in Darfur. He was joined by a smaller rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement.
The State Department official described reports about new violence by Minawi’s faction as part of a pattern though not on the scale seen earlier in the conflict.
“The administration should certainly be reevaluating just how much support they give him in light of these new allegations” of rape and murder by Minawi loyalists, Thomas- Jensen said.
Zoellick’s Departure
The May peace deal required “complete, verifiable disarmament” by mid-October of the government-backed Janjaweed militia, which has been terrorizing residents of Darfur.
Painstakingly negotiated during several days by former deputy secretary of state Zoellick, the agreement always risked coming apart, especially because of the lack of support from rebels.
Zoellick, who took personal charge of the Darfur issue and made four trips there, wrapped up his time as the number two U.S. diplomat on July 7, leaving a void in U.S. mediation.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Janjaweed militia would be disarmed before rebel groups prepare to lay down their own arms. The deal also establishes buffer zones around displaced persons camps into which “rebel forces and Sudanese armed forces cannot go.”
A power-sharing arrangement would give the residents of Darfur the ability to choose their own leaders, determine their status as a region and be represented in the central government in Khartoum.
(ST/Bloomberg)