Sudan charges that meddling sabotaged Chad-hosted peace talks
KHARTOUM, Dec 17 (AFP) — Meddling by opposition parties prompted rebels in western Sudan to push demands that forced the collapse of peace talks hosted by Chad, the area’s governor charged in remarks published.
The talks between the Sudanese government and rebels from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), based in the troubled western Darfur region, broke off Tuesday, a government minister from host country Chad said.
North Darfur Governor Osman Yousuf Kibir was quoted by the Sudan Media Centre (SMC) as saying the demands put forward by the SLM were “unobjective and carry the fingerprints of some parties and powers.”
Stopping short of identifying these parties, Kibir nonetheless accused the opposition Islamic Popular Congress party of “standing behind the rebels,” the SMC said.
The governor, who was quoted in his capital of Al-Fashir, then accused the SLM of reneging on positions and commitments they made in previous talks.
Reporting from Ndjamena, the SMC said Chadian President Idriss Deby had declared he would abandon his mediation bid between Khartoum and the SLM.
But the PCP denied the charges it supported the Darfur rebels.
“I am afraid that this unfounded accusation has originated from the security authorites and might not have been made by the governor and was aimed at limiting the political activities of our party,” PCP political affairs secretary Beshir Adam Rahmah told AFP.
“I declare loudly that the Popular Congress has no relationship whatsoever with what is happening in Darfur,” he said.
“We advise the government to be patient in the negotiations despite the exaggerated demands by the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), as negotiation is the only way for resolving the conflict,” said Rahmah.
He declared his party’s willingness to play a role in finding a solution to the Darfur problem peacefully.
Meanwhile, the PCP announced that the security authorities Wednesday arrested a number of its medium-level officials in Khartoum, including Khairy al-Gadeel Arbab, Tigani Sineen and Ismail Abul Basher.
Though the reasons for the arrests were not given, he saw a link with the allegations the PCP supported the rebels in Darfur.
Since February, the government has clashed with SLM rebels who accuse Khartoum of neglecting the impoverished Darfur region neighboring Chad.
UN officials say 3,000 people have died in the violence and more than 500,000 have been displaced.