Peace from inside Sudan means to undo efforts to end Darfur conflict – LJM rebels

January 21, 2011 (DOHA) — Rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) denounced efforts to transfer the venue of the peace talks from Doha into inside Sudan describing it as an “attempt to undo what has been achieved” to end Darfur conflict.

“We are fairly behind the Doha venue and we support entirely the mediators, the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al- Mahmoud and the Joint Chief Mediator Djibril Bassole,” said LJM chief negotiator Tadjadine Beshir Niam.

Sudanese government and the head of the African Union Panel for Sudan are struggling to launch a new venue to end Darfur conflict from inside the country saying rebel groups are not serious to end the suffering of civilians in the restive region.

Thabo Mbeki the head of the African Panel also criticized the mediation saying they failed during the two past years to finalize a peace deal and proposed a holistic approach aiming to engage dialogue among civil society, displaced persons and tribal leaderships.

Justice and equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by the Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, accused the government of not willing to give the needed concessions to reach a political settlement. They also openly accused Mbeki of supporting Sudanese government efforts to obstruct justice and peace in Darfur.

Khartoum withdrew its delegation from Doha and rejected a compromise by mediation to establish a regional authority, to coordinate the work of the three states in Darfur, headed by a vice-president who represents the region.

The LJM accepted the proposals made by the mediation and said ready to sign a peace agreement with the government.

“The process of Darfur-Darfur Political Dialogue means to abort the peace process and endangers the situation,” Niam said. ”

“Doha remains the sole venue recognized internationally and regionally and supported by the IDPs and the people of Darfur,” he said, adding not way to dispute its legitimacy. .

Naim also said the internal dialogue process can be held only after the parties signed a political agreement dealing with the main demands of Darfurians for security, justice and development.

The government and its partners are playing with fire but they do not realize that this fire could burn them before the others,” he warned.

“The proposed process will ignite hostilities and raise hostilities in Darfur between the supporters of the ruling National Congress Party and the rest of Darfurians. A new war will take place despite the efforts done to calm down the tensions.”

He also said his movement supports the efforts done by JEM and SLM-AW to join the process saying LJM is ready to cooperate with them to end the conflict in the interest of Darfur.

“We encourage them to join the Doha venue which is the sole guarantee to reach a fair and just peace in Darfur.”

LJM signed a ceasefire agreement with the Sudanese government since last June but no ceasefire commission was established. The rebel group blamed the UNAMID for failing to set up the monitoring mechanism

Niam said the UNAMID instead of playing fully its mandate seeks to involve itself in the political process and neglects to establish the ceasefire commission since more than six months.

(ST)