Darfur rebel leader tells Sudan to ‘move past’ his residency status in France
April 29, 2008 (PARIS) — A key Darfur rebel leader living in exile called on the Sudanese government “to move past the issue of his residency status in France”.
Al-Nur was responding to a report in the daily Al-Rayaam that the Sudanese justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat was seeking to press his French counterpart Rachida Dati on the presence of the SLM leader in Paris.
The pro-government newspaper said that the issue of Al-Nur’s residency status in France “is topping the agenda of the meeting”.
However the SLM chief downplayed the importance of the new push by Sudan to get him expelled from France.
The rebel leader said that Sudan “should devote the time and efforts to honoring the agreements they signed and pledges they made to the international community rather than lobby France for my expulsion”.
“There are people dying in Darfur and our women are being raped on a daily basis while the Janjaweed militias are carrying out their terror campaign with impunity and support from Khartoum” he added.
The founder leader of the SLM has been residing in Paris for over a year. The French government granted Al-Nur a residence permit that is renewed every three months.
France came under pressure from the Sudanese government and many Western countries to force Al-Nur out of the country suggesting that this is the only way to encourage him to take part in the peace talks.
In October 2007 the rebel leader boycotted the Peace talks brokered by the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) between Sudan’s government and Darfur rebel groups in the Libyan city of Sirte. Following this move that it was widely reported that Paris would not renew his authorization to stay. However his permit was subsequently renewed.
Last week the South African envoy at the UN and the current president of the UN Security Council (UNSC) responding to reporters’ questions at the UN headquarters on whether it was time to consider sanctions against those obstructing the peace in Darfur said that “the people who are obstructing the peace are those who are sitting in the nice capitals of Europe so what can we do”.
The South African envoy was likely referring to Al-Nur who has refused to participate in peace talks before the deployment of peacekeepers and achieving security on the ground.
“The Sudanese government and many world officials are under the false impression that my position is linked to my stay in France. Let me remind them that the AU kicked me out of the hotel during the Abuja talks because I would not sign the peace agreement. Then I left for Eritrea and had to leave afterwards” Al-Nur said.
“Throughout these years and irrespective of where I was or the kind the pressure I faced, my stance has never changed. My primary concern is security for the people in Darfur and will not back down from that. Once that is achieved I am prepared to attend peace talks anywhere” he added.
Al-Nur also said the UNSC must ensure that the peacekeeping force is quickly deployed in Darfur.
“Today the Sudanese air force violated the UNSC resolution banning military flights in Darfur and bombed our people. Only an effective peacekeeping force can deter such attacks and protect the civilians. This is a very basic right” the SLM leader said.
International experts also say more than 300,000 were killed and 2 million have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Darfur, a region that is roughly the size of France.
(ST)