Mediation should consider Darfur legitimate demands – rebel chief

October 6, 2008 (PARIS) — Abdel-Wahid Mohamed Al-Nur the chief of rebel Sudan Liberating Movement reiterated today the SLM commitment to reach a lasting and honorable peace; he also said any mediation should take in consideration the legitimate demands of Darfur people.

The Qatari government is undertaking contacts with the different parties in the conflict in western Sudan. This mediation comes more than two years since the failure of African Union mediation in Abuja to put an end to the conflict in 2006.

Al-Nur told Sudan Tribune in Paris Monday that his movement welcomes any effort to bring peace in the western Sudan because it would end “the five years suffering of Darfur people who are subjected to the daily killing and atrocities”. However he underscored that the SLM wants a “real peace not a false one.”

He added world should take in account that the SLM which was targeted during the two last months by Khartoum troops and militias would not take part in peace process unless the Sudanese government stop the killing of civilians and the rape of women.

Since last year the SLM led by Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur set a series of demands called “conflict suspension” that Khartoum has to fulfill before peace talks. Theses demands encompass the ceasefire, the disarmament of militias and the resettlement of the displaced and refugees in their villages.

The SLM says these measures treat the consequences of the conflict. The peace talks, according to the SLM-Al-Nur, should be dedicated to the root causes of the conflict, in order to find a lasting peace.

Al-Nur also said that their demands for the ceasefire and the disarmament of militias do not intend to obstruct the negotiations or to prevent it “We simply want to protect the civilians in their village and in the camps.” He also said what happened in Kalama camp last August “reinforced our conviction on the rightness of our position.”

On Monday August 25, Sudanese troops clashed with the displaced population inside one of the largest IDPs camp in the troubled Darfur. The armed forces killed more than thirty displaced.

The UNAMID condemned the excessive and disproportionate use of force against civilians; it also said this attack came “in contravention of the Darfur Peace Agreement and International Humanitarian Law.”

A Sudanese delegation started today a series of talks with the French officials on Darfur peace process and ways to suspend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court on Darfur crimes after the indictment of Sudanese president by the ICC prosecutor.

Asked whether he met the visiting Sudanese delegation led by the Presidential Assistant and government top negotiator, Nafi Ali Nafi, Al-Nur said he would not meet them before the realisation of the SLM demands.

He further said he has no details about what they speak with France where he lives since two years. “We do not know any thing about the contacts that Sudanese delegation has with the French officials, but our position remains that Khartoum has to prove its credibility and seriousness to settle Darfur conflict”, he stressed.

With regard to the Sudanese government efforts to counter the request of an arrest warrant by ICC prosecutor for President Al-Bashir, the rebel chief called on the international community to not mix between justice and peace process in Darfur.

He also said that World should not hurt the legal proceedings undertaken by the international court through any political interferences. “This will damage the authority of a tribunal that many of the democratic countries spent much in time and money to establish.” He said.

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)