Darfur rebels to fight AU if Sudan becomes chairman
Jan 26, 2007 (ADDIS ABABAA) — Darfur rebels said on Friday they would refuse peace talks and would fight African Union peacekeepers on the ground if Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir became chairman of the pan-African body.
Last year wrangling over whether Sudan would become chairman dominated an African Union summit, and a compromise was reached that Bashir would take over in 2007 in the hope the situation would have improved in Sudan’s west.
But security has deteriorated despite an AU-mediated peace deal in May and diplomats warn another battle over the year-long chairmanship will emerge as African leaders prepare to meet on Monday and Tuesday in Ethiopia.
“If Sudan becomes head of the African Union then the AU mission working in Darfur will become party to the conflict on the side of the government,” said Esam el-Din al-Hajj, from a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
Jar el-Neby, a commander from a rival SLA faction which cooperates with the roughly 7,500 AU peacekeepers in Darfur, agreed, adding the AU would not be able to mediate talks with Sudan as its head.
“Definitely if the government of Sudan becomes president of the AU we will fight with the AU,” he said.
“There is no solution to the conflict in Darfur if Sudan becomes head of the AU. We refuse this and there will be no talks,” he told Reuters from Darfur.
Leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Khalil Ibrahim also said peace talks would be out of the question with Bashir heading the AU.
‘CONTRADICTION’
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack urged all parties in Sudan to comply with peace agreements and not oppose peacekeepers.
Last year, the United States strongly opposed moves by Sudan to take over the AU presidency and has made clear this time there are other candidates that are more suitable because of the conflict of interest over Darfur.
“There is a contradiction there which needs to be addressed, and can only be addressed by the AU. We can make our views clear but it is up to the AU to make decisions on that,” said McCormack, when asked whether Washington opposed Bashir’s candidacy.
But Sudan is not backing down. “There was a decision made last year and nobody has the right to change that,” said Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol.
Nonetheless, diplomats say that last year’s deal was only in principle, and it will be discussed again.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in four years of conflict in Darfur. Washington calls the rape, pillage and murder genocide, a term Khartoum rejects and European nations are reluctant to use.
The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes in the region. Darfur is the AU’s first major foray into peacekeeping and has been seen as a test case for the body formed in 2001.
“I hope that AU and the countries will be wise when they are deciding the future chairmanship of the African Union because it’s also the AU’s credibility at stake,” Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen said in Addis Ababa.
The AU and United Nations hope to initiate new peace talks this year after only one of three rebel negotiating factions signed the May 2006 peace deal for Darfur.
Non-signatory rebels took up arms against the government in June, sparking remobilization of militias and bombing raids.
(Reuters)