Darfur mediators to engage dialogue with recalcitrant rebels

October 29, 2007 (SIRTE, Libya) — Delegations from Darfur peace joint mediation will leave to Darfur and Southern Sudan in a bid to convince the recalcitrant rebel groups to join in the ongoing peace talks in Libya.

Ahmed Fawzi, the joint mediation spokesperson and AMIS spokesperson Noureddine Mezni confirmed to Sudan Tribune that delegations will go to Darfur to meet Khalil Ibrahim the chairman of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Abdalla Yahya, the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Unity Faction.

The two rebel leaders on Friday October 26 said in a joint statement that the mediation had failed to identify the true representatives of Darfur blaming the mediation for inviting splinter groups and some groups without real presence on the ground, they said. They also said the AU-UN mediation team didn’t consult them in the preparations of the talks.

However the mediation says they implemented the outcome of Arusha meeting held last August.

“We respected the time table fixed in Arusha (two or three months) and the choice of the venue (in countries of the regional initiatives)” the spokesmen said.

According to the spokesmen, another delegation will fly to Juba in order to convince other rebel groups as SLM-Ahmed Abdelshafi, and SLA – Unity Command and some other commanders.

CONTACTS WITH RECALCITRANT REBELS

Yesterday in a press conference held at the premises of the talks in Sirte, UN envoy to Darfur, Jan Eliasson and AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim told the reporters that they have contacts with the rebel leaders who boycott the negotiations.

They further said that rebels who attended Arusha are still committed to the peace process. According to the mediators all what they want is just clarifications of some issues related to the talks.

“Maybe they want clarification of the agenda, clarification of the format of the negotiations and these are in my opinion bona fide questions which need to be answered.” Salim said.

Eliasson went to disclose the names of these groups that could joint the process. He cited the names of Khamis Abdalla Abakar of SLM, Ahmed Abdelshafi of SLM and JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim.

Asked whether the mediators are ready to respond positively to the demands of these groups Noureddine Mezni said “With dialogue we can find the right equation to make talks successful.”

However, in statements to the Associated Press Khalil Ibrahim vehemently attacked the mediators accusing them of favoring the government side by letting splinter groups on the talks.

He also blamed Eliasson and his AU counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim, for “behaving like foreign ministers, not envoys,” saying that they “spend more time in (Sudanese) government palaces than in the field.”

Ibrahim said negotiations had to be “canceled until Eliasson and Salim come back to meet us in Darfur so that we can sort out the problems.”

ABDELWAHID AL-NUR

If the mediators showed optimism to convince rebels who attended Arusha consultations meeting for the rebel groups, they seemed hopeless toward the participation of the SLM founder Abdelwahid al-Nur.

They said Nur refuses contact with them in spite of the level and the number of personalities that went to meet him and he just addressing message through the satellite Channel al-Jazeera.

“Just open Aljazeera and you will see the response of Mr. Abdelwahid.” Salim told the reporters.

Al-Nur rejects the current peace process requesting the deployment of the international peacekeeping force in Darfur, the disarmament of the Khartoum backed militias and the return of the civilians to their village.

The war in Darfur has cost about 200,000 civilian lives and forced more than 2.5 million to flee their homes, since rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of injustice and neglect. Khartoum puts the deaths at 9,000 and says the West exaggerates the conflict.

(ST)