UN envoy urges talks with Darfur rebels to save peace

Sept 21, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The top UN envoy to Sudan on Thursday warned that a peace deal for the troubled region of Darfur signed in May was almost dead and urged all parties to start fresh negotiations.

“The DPA (Darfur peace agreement) is in a coma. It’s not dead but it’s dying,” Jan Pronk told reporters in Khartoum.

The agreement, signed in Abuja on May 5 by the Sudanese government and the main Darfur rebel group but rejected by the other two negotiating rebel factions, has failed to stem the bloodshed in the western region.

“Something should be done to bring it alive… It should be improved through negotiations among the different parties, including those movements which have not signed the agreement,” said Pronk.

UN officials, including Pronk, had warned after the agreement was signed that the deployment of a robust UN peacekeeping force in Darfur was crucial to the implementation of the deal.

But almost five months later, President Omar al-Beshir remains adamant in his rejection of a UN takeover from the cash-strapped ill-equipped African Union currently operating in Darfur.

The AU decided Wednesday to extend its mandate until the end of the year, buying time for more negotiations between Khartoum and the world body.

Since the war broke out in February 2003, at least 200.000 people have died from the combined effects of fighting, famine and disease, according to the Unied Nations. Some sources say the toll is much higher.

(ST/AFP)