Darfur rebel chief calls on UK to send peacekeepers
May 6, 2008 (PARIS) — A key Darfur rebel leader living in France called on the British Prime minister Gordon Brown to send peacekeepers to the war ravaged region.
“The UK government should focus its efforts in the current stage on bringing security to Darfur and protecting the civilians” Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) told Sudan Tribune today.
“We need to have boots on the ground to achieve conflict suspension. There need to be a peacemaking force. The international community should disarm the militias and preserve the livelihood of the people before any talks can commence” he said.
“Anything different will provide the Sudanese government with the opportunity to continue its acts of aggression and killing our people in Darfur. Just this week they used their air force to kill school children. Unfortunately there was no effective force on the ground to stop them” the SLM leader added.
The UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and the Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, met last week with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Deng Alor and the Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Ismail.
During the meeting the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for International Development, pressed Deng Alor on the UK’s key concerns on Darfur: the security situation and humanitarian access; the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities; more active cooperation from the Government of Sudan on the UNAMID deployment.
The British officials further discussed how a cessation of hostilities could help improve prospects for progress in the political process, and how the UK could help.
However the Foreign Office didn’t elaborate on the initiative made by the British Prime Minister in mid-April to host Darfur peace talks. It was expected that they would deliver further details on the proposal.
The Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Ismail said last week that it is “premature to say whether we have accepted or rejected the British proposal since we are still in the process of inquiring and evaluating the situation”.
Al-Nur also said he received fresh information on a wave of new Arab settlers from neighboring countries into Darfur.
“There are around 120,000 of them who came from Niger to Wadi Saleh. This also occurred in north, west and south of Zalingi. They are building new villages for them in these areas. This is a serious matter. Khartoum clearly is continuing its policies of repopulating Darfur with tribes from other countries”.
There have been numerous reports since 2002 on alleged resettlement of Arab tribes from Niger and Chad in Darfur by the Sudanese government to change the demographics of the region.
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)