Darfur SLM leader hold talks with US officials

By Wasil Ali

July 14, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The leader of a Darfur rebel group held talks today with senior US officials to discuss pushing forward the political process in the war ravaged region.

Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) met with Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer and the US presidential envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson.

“The talks focused on ways to bring security to Darfur. We also discussed the political process in Sudan and democratic transformation in the country” Al-Nur told Sudan Tribune.

Al-Nur described the talks as “constructive and fruitful”.

The SLM leader said he conveyed to the US administration a message from Darfur refugees urging them to support the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges today to issue arrest warrants for Sudan president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir.

Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Judges are expected to take months to study the evidence before deciding whether to order Al-Bashir’s arrest

“My phone just kept ringing. All of them [Darfur refugees] said the same thing; they want justice” he said.

Al-Nur said his SLM faction “strongly support Ocampo’s finding”.

“I call on Al-Bashir to surrender if an arrest warrant is indeed issued. I am prepared to do that as well as my commanders if charged. The goal is to achieve justice” he said.

“As a lawyer I say that all people are innocent until proven guilty. If Al-Bashir is innocent he will be set free” Al-Nur 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.

Last month 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.

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)