Darfur rebels demand limited attendance and another venue
November 5, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Darfur rebels whose boycott torpedoed peace talks in Libya last month say they will not attend a second round in December unless U.N.-African Union mediators limit attendance and change the venue.
Organisers hoped to reconvene for a second round of talks which would include the absent rebels in December but rebel representatives said on Monday unless there were major changes they were unlikely to do so.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said they would not be going to any talks unless just two rebel delegations were invited — JEM and a united Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).
“Our position is very clear — we will not participate in any talks unless it is just JEM and SLA,” said JEM Chief negotiator Ahmed Tugod Lissan.
Given the mediation’s list of more than 20 invitees from the insurgents, that is unlikely to happen. U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson and the AU’s Salim Ahmed Salim said they wanted all factions to attend to negotiate a first order of business — a comprehensive ceasefire.
Lissan said rebels would receive the AU-U.N. mediation team in the field in Darfur likely on Tuesday, but JEM’s position would not change.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million driven from their homes since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government of neglect.
Violence has spiralled out of control as arms spread and rebels factionalised after a May 2006 peace deal which most insurgents rejected. An African Union peacekeeping force has been unable to stem the chaotic clashes engulfing the region.
CLOCK TICKS
The clock for a diplomatic solution in Darfur is ticking because thousands of U.N. forces are expected to deploy in Darfur by the beginning of the year to augment the AU operation. But some countries might balk at sending in troops to monitor a peace that does not exist.
Sudan’s government declared a unilateral ceasefire as the talks opened in Libya but rebels said they bombed their areas the same day in Darfur.
“There is no ceasefire whether from our side or from the Sudanese government. This is just political propaganda,” said Lissan.
The SLA-Unity faction, along with JEM the main fighting force on the ground, said they would need more than just four weeks to prepare and unite.
“We will need more time than that … at least two months,” said Abdullah Yehya, head of SLA-Unity.
And other factions meeting in the south Sudan capital Juba, said they had met with the mediation and had made their position very clear that, because of Gaddafi’s comments that the conflict was all about camels, they rejected the location of the talks.
Alfred Taban, owner of the Khartoum Monitor paper in Khartoum, attended the talks and described Gaddafi’s comments.
“The Libyan leader told the opening conference of the talks that the Darfur crisis is a local tribal dispute which can be handled by the Darfuris themselves,” he wrote in a editorial on Monday.
“Libya and its president are therefore not the best hosts for the talks because they do not appear to understand a thing about the struggle of the Darfuri people. … They are with the regime in Khartoum.”
Rebel Jaralnabi Abdelkarim said: “Any decision they (mediators) take by themselves without consulting us is rejected. We are are ready to consult with them on the place and timing of the talks.”
(Reuters)