Darfur rebel chief to visit US for talks

By Wasil Ali

July 8, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The leader of a Darfur rebel group announced that he will be making his first visit to the United States this week.

“I will be meeting with US officials and organizations which stood for the cause of Darfuris and against the genocide that was and is still taking place” Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) told Sudan Tribune by phone from Paris.

“I am excited that I will be able to meet the American people and thank them for their overwhelming generosity and support of Darfuris all these years” he added.

The controversial rebel chief has frustrated international efforts for holding peace talks to resolve the 5 year conflict in Darfur saying he wants security on the ground first.

Some countries including Sudan, have pressed the French government to expel Al-Nur for boycotting Darfur negotiations.

Last month the US special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson, speaking at the US Institute of Peace, criticized the SLM leader for refusing to engage in peace negotiations.

Washington has also been pushing hard for quick deployment of UN-AU peacekeepers in Darfur.

Williamson voiced disappointment at the UN secretariat for failing to move quickly on the UN-AU force.

“We find it very disheartening that six months after the transfer from the African Union (AU) to the hybrid UN-AU force that 6,900 African Union troops have been re-hatted. There has only been an addition of 585 new UN peacekeepers” Williamson told reporters at the UN headquarters last month.

“The United States and others are engaged in training and equipping African peacekeepers to get to the ground. But we need more forward leaning by the UN secretariat to assist us” he added.

The UN says that logistical and training issues are slowing down the process of sending boots to Darfur.

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)