SLM al-Nur demands Libyan plan to stop Darfur genocide
Nov 21, 2006 (PARIS) — In reaction to Libyan leader statement on colonialist role of the UN troops’ role in Darfur, the Chief of a Darfur rebel group invited Libya’s Gadhafi to propose a solution to stop Darfur genocide if he opposes the ongoing collective killing there.
Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nur, the chairperson of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement has urged the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, who rejected the deployment of the UN troops in Darfur, to present a plan to stop “genocide in Darfur”.
Gadhafi Sunday rejected the UN force for Darfur saying Sudanese army is better than to be occupied by U.N. forces.
“Western countries and America are not busying themselves out of sympathy for the Sudanese people or for Africa but for oil and for the return of colonialism to the African continent,” Gadhafi said.
Al-Nur, in a press conference held in Paris, reaffirmed his support to the UN takeover from the African Union troops. He further urged the international community to implement UN resolution 1706 and to take a real action on the ground. “All what international community does is talking”.
He also said African leaders should not allow Sudanese president to become the Chairperson of the pan African organization next year. “If president Omar al-Bashir becomes the AU president, African Union would be supporter for the genocide of Darfur people and I do not think they will admit it”, al-Nur said.
WELCOME TO PEACE INITIATIVES
The SLM founder welcomed the different peace initiatives to resolve the Darfur crisis. He said there are efforts from Eritrea, Egypt, EU, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, UN and USA.
Regarding the Eritrean initiative, al-Nur said his movement is not in favor of Asmara as venue of talks. He indicated that there are very strong relations with the Eritrean authorities but his movement wants the international community to play a leading role in the negotiations and Eritrea is not willing to.
He criticized the African mediators approach in Abuja talks saying “AU mediators and international facilitators had tried during the talks to treat the consequences of Darfur crisis not its causes”. Adding “the problem is originally political and it should be dressed as such”.
Also, he told the press that Darfur war is not an ethnic conflict because the Sudanese people are one. “The problem consists in the nature of this Islamist regime which used Jihad and religious values to exterminate around three millions in the southern Sudan and now use the ethnic pretext to achieve their genocide in western Sudan”, he said.
The rebel leader said “we had been forced o hold arms against the regime because al-Bashir repeatedly and vehemently denied negotiating with political groups arguing his ready to negotiate with armed groups.
SLM DEMANDS
According to al-Nur, the people of the Darfur region must be given their right to live in one region. He demands that Darfur people must also be represented on all levels of government in Sudan and in the state executive and legislative departments in accordance with the percentage of the population.
Regarding the distribution of wealth, he requests fair compensation for Darfurians for the property they lost. The three-year war destroyed the infrastructure, particularly in the field of education. He calls for introducing languages and local dialects into the curricula in the region.
On the security arrangements, we wanted the agreement to include a clear mechanism to disarm the Janjaweed and pinpoint the side that will undertake this job in a clear and frank manner. Therefore, we wanted an international mechanism.
The also stressed that the question of the property of the land (Hawakir) is crucial for Darfur people. Therefore, he requested the government to restore all the villagers to their areas. He also rejected Khartoum’s plans to build villages to house Darfur IDPs.
(ST)