Ceasefire needs implementation not negotiations – Darfur rebel chief
May 22, 2008 (PARIS) — A Darfur rebel leader said there is no need to hold new negotiations in order to reach a ceasefire in the troubled Darfur. Instead he asked the international to pressurize Sudanese government to implement the signed deals on this respect.
The UN envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson met today in Paris with Abdel-Wahid al-Nur, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) to discuss security situation in Darfur. Eliasson also proposed to hold a meeting in Geneva to discuss security arrangements with the Sudanese government in the troubled area.
Abdel-Wahid Mohamed al-Nur told Sudan Tribune that he reiterated SLA commitment to the signed ceasefire agreements with the Sudanese government since 2004 and urged the international community to put pressures on Khartoum in order to fulfil its commitments in this respect.
“We think that the implementation of the already signed ceasefire agreements with the Sudanese government can bring and end to the current violence in the region and constitute a step to stop attacks on civilians and aid workers.” Al-Nur said.
Sudanese government and the two rebel movements — SLM and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) — signed on April 8, 2004 a ceasefire agreement sponsored by the Chadian President Idriss Deby in N’djamena. The deal was followed by another agreement on the modalities the establishment of the Ceasefire Commission and the deployment of observers, on May 28, 2004 in Addis Ababa.
Al Nur further said new talks on the ceasefire will bring complications and confusion and would prolong the suffering of Darfur people.
In addition, he told Eliasson that SLA command — as it was said to the two peace envoy during a meeting held in Darfur last month with the SLA military leadership — is poised to fully cooperate with the hybrid peacekeeping troops in Darfur and all its commanders are committed to provide the necessary help and support to ensure the success of the mission.
The rebel leader who asks for ceasefire implementation as a measure to create favourable environment for the talks, added that “for us the implementation of the ceasefire means that Khartoum observes effectively the cessation of hostilities to enable the civilians to return to their villages.”
Al-Nur said new talks will give Khartoum wrong signals on “our respect to the ceasefire deals.” He added that “People can refer to the records of the Ceasefire Commission and see if we breached it.”
(ST)