Third round of peace talks between Sudanese government and SLA rebels breaks down in Chad
By ABAKAR SALEH Associated Press Writer
N’DJAMENA, Chad, Dec 16, 2003 (AP) — A third round of talks aimed at bringing at end to the conflict between rebels in the Darfur region of western Sudan and the Sudanese government broke down Tuesday over what the senior Chadian mediator called “unacceptable demands” from the Sudan Liberation Army.
“There has been a breakdown in negotiations because of unacceptable rebel demands. The talks have been suspended; it’s a failure,” Interior Minister Abderahmane Moussa told reporters less than 24 hours after the talks opened in the Chadian capital.
Chad brokered a cease-fire between the Sudanese government and the SLA on Sept. 3 in the eastern town of Abeche near the Chad-Sudan border. It was extended at a Nov. 4 meeting and was to have been formalized at the N’Djamena talks.
Although Moussa did not elaborate on rebel demands that led to the breakdown, it is believed the SLA wanted to include other rebel groups, including the Justice and Equality Movement, in the cease-fire.
On Monday a senior aid worker from Medecins sans Frontieres told The Associated Press that more than 10,000 Sudanese had fled into eastern Chad in the past week and would soon need food and water.
Sonja Peyrassol said the refugees had crossed the border near the town of Birak, 175 kilometers (108 miles) north of Abeche, in relatively good health, but that food and water supplies were rapidly running out.
“More than half of them came without any belongings, while the other ones came with some cattle,” Peyrassol told The Associated Press by telephone. “Those are the ones who left before something happened to their villages … they are quite healthy, because when we met them they had just arrived, but they don’t have much to eat with them. We expect the situation to deteriorate in the coming weeks.”
The refugees were fleeing growing violence in the Darfur region, 900 kilometers (560 miles) west of Khartoum.
The Sudan Liberation Army has demanded self-determination for Darfur and has been fighting government troops and government-backed militias since February. The militiamen are drawn from Sudan’s Muslim, Arab population. The rebels in Darfur, although Muslim, are black Africans, often of mixed Arabic ancestry.
When activated by the government, the militias are usually allowed to loot villages as compensation for their services. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and international human rights groups have expressed concern over reports that the militiamen have been committing atrocities against civilians in Darfur.
Witnesses have also reported that Sudanese planes have been bombing villages in Darfur.
Because humanitarian agencies aren’t yet able to work in the region, the number of victims and people displaced by fighting is unknown. Figures run from 500,000 to 1 million.
Peyrassol said about 20,000 refugees have arrived in the Birak area, but other agencies report that more than 60,000 have sought refuge elsewhere in eastern Chad.
There are few roads in eastern Chad and accessing the refugees has proven extremely difficult. The U.N. refugee agency has recommended setting up two camps near Birak for the refugees, but Peyrassol said that after the latest influx, three may now be needed.
The flare-up in fighting coincides with peace talks in Kenya where the main southern Sudanese rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, has reached partial agreement with the Khartoum government to end a 20-year civil war.