Sudan urges Darfur rebels to unify positions
July 12, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government urged on Thursday the rebel factions in Darfur, which amount to about two dozens, to unify their positions to pave the way for the resumption of the peace negotiations.
The demand was made by Sudanese Presidential Adviser and Secretary General of the ruling National Congress Party Nafie Ali Nafie during a meeting with U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Andrew Natsios, the official SUNA news agency reported.
Nafie stressed the necessity for the armed groups to unify their positions and adopt a single negotiation channel toward achievement of a comprehensive political settlement of the Darfur issue, according to the report.
“The peace in Darfur could not be achieved through negotiation with each armed group separately,” Nafie said.
Meanwhile, Sudanese Presidential Adviser and former Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters that five rebel groups in Darfur including the powerful Justice and Equality Movement had agreed to attend an international conference on Darfur to be held in the Libyan capital Tripoli on July 15 and 16.
He said that pressures were being exerted on other rebel groups, including a breakaway faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahed Mohammed Nour, to take part in the Tripoli conference, which is to be co-chaired by the United Nations and the African Union.
The Sudanese official hoped that the rebel movements, which had not accepted the Darfur Peace Agreement, would participate in the next round of peace negotiations in order to work out a comprehensive solution for the Darfur crisis.
The Sudanese government signed a peace deal with one of the main rebel groups in Darfur in May last year while the other rebel groups refused to sign the peace agreement on the pretext that the deal had not meet all their demands.
Local observers have expected that the peace talks would restart in August, but the expectation has become dimmer and dimmer due to a proliferation of the rebel groups.
(Xinhua)