SLM’s Nur turns down meeting request from Sudan’s Alor
June 19, 2008 (PARIS) — A Darfur rebel chief living in exile in France declined a meeting request with the visiting Sudanese foreign minister.
Abdel Wahid al-Nur, the chief of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) said he will not meet with Deng Alor because he is here in his capacity as a minister of the national unity government.
“Despite my deep respect and consideration to Deng Alor personally, I feel obligated turn down his meeting request because he is in Paris as a minister of a government that I refuse to negotiate with unless it stops the daily atrocities against Darfur civilians”.
Al-Nur added that he looks to meet him and any other officials from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) here in Paris or elsewhere but not as members of the Sudanese government.
“I consider the SPLM as natural and strategic ally for our movement but I hope Deng Alor can understand our position. I have to defend the cause of our people” he said.
In an article Al-Nur wrote and published in the Wall Street Journal, the rebel leader rejected any negotiations until peacekeepers are deployed and security is restored in the war ravaged region.
“Before any negotiations can commence, we need security. The first stage must be to disarm the Janjaweeds, stop the massacres and rapes of civilians, and repel the settlers. Furthermore, we need a clear United Nations mandate for the combined U.N.-African Union peacekeeping operation, whose deployment has been repeatedly postponed” he said.
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 last October failed after main movements boycotted them including SLM led by Al-Nur.
Al-Nur’s demands for “security before negotiations” have caused deep frustration among diplomats and the Sudanese government who called on France to expel him.
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)