Sudan hopes Security Council will impose deadline for Darfur rebels
July 26, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese government official expressed hopes that the UN Security Council would issue a deadline for rebel groups to halt attacks aiming to undermine the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) and destabilise the security situation in western Sudan.
The AU Peace and Security Council further threatened to “take appropriate sanctions against individuals and entities whose actions aims at undermining the DDPD process, and requests the UN Security Council to consider taking similar measure.”
The UN Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the joint operation for another year on Thursday 26 July.
Amin Hassan Omer, Sudan’s state minister at the presidency and head of the DDPD implementation follow-up office, urged the UN Security Council to give the hold-out rebel groups a deadline to stop attacks in the region or else face international sanctions.
“The UN Security Council now has precedents in the field of deadlines. So, we hope there will be a deadline for the rebel movements to join (the DDPD)or face sanctions”, Amin said, alluding to the resolution 2046 on the disputed issues between Sudan and South Sudan.
Sudan’s UN envoy Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, urged the Council to condemn rebel groups for their clear refusal to join the DDPD on Tuesday.
UNAMID chief, Ibrahim Gambari, told the Security Council that he met with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi in April and May of this year.
“The movements advised that they remain committed to the objectives of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, including the overthrow of the National Congress Party-led Government,” he said in his report.
North Darfur governor, Osman Kibir, stated on Wednesday that the Sudanese army repelled JEM rebels as they carried out attacks in his state in different locations. The governor accused the rebel group of targeting civilians and looting their belongings.
A Sudanese government committee, chaired by First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, agreed in Khartoum to finalise the implementation of the security arrangements related to the combatants of the former rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).
The LJM leader and chairman of Darfur Regional Authority told reporters, following the meeting, that the parties agreed to complete the implementation of the security arrangements.
LJM contests the verification of LJM forces conducted by the Sudanese army last March, saying the military used a narrow criteria for eligibility as a combatant. LJM demand to use a broader criteria in order to include more fighters.
(ST)