Sudanese and rebel officials sign political agreement, step toward a full peace agreement

N’DJAMENA, Chad, April 26, 2004 (AP) — Sudanese and rebel officials signed an agreement Monday to form joint commissions to monitor a cease-fire and to set up an international conference to address the problems of Sudan ‘s Darfur region, officials said.

In negotiations held in neighboring Chad, the two sides promised to observe the existing cease-fire, allow humanitarian aid to reach the region and hold further talks in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, next month, Chadian President Idriss Deby said.

“We are going to make the cease-fire monitoring commission and the joint commission rapidly operational with the support of the international community,” Deby said.

Representatives from the Sudanese government, Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, as well as mediators from Chad and the African Union, began talks April 20.

The two groups launched their rebellion last year to demand a greater share of power and wealth, but fighting has intensified in the last three months after a government-backed Arab militia began what refugees have described as a scorched earth campaign, deliberately bombing and attacking civilians, most of whom are of African descent.

The U.N. and human rights groups have reported widespread atrocities in Darfur, home to a fifth of Sudan ‘s 30 million people.

A U.N. team of experts who visited some of the estimated 110,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad earlier this month reported last week that Sudanese forces are raping non-Arab women and girls, bombing civilians and committing other atrocities in what may amount to “crimes against humanity” in western Darfur province.

More than 800,000 people have been driven from their homes in Darfur, U.N. officials said.

Government officials have denied the allegations that their militia was involved.

The cease-fire expires June 2, but can be renewed if more time is needed to reach a final peace agreement.

The new agreement also commits the Sudanese government to disarming all of the militias operating in the Darfur region, along Chad’s border, and to guarantee the delivery of food and other supplies to all of the people displaced by the fighting, Deby said.