Sudan rebels see little hope for peace at Abuja talks

ABUJA, Aug 27 (AFP) — Sudanese rebels at African Union peace talks in Abuja said Friday there was little hope that the meeting would bring peace to the crisis-ridden Darfur region but ruled out pulling out of the conference.

“We came to Abuja hoping that we could reach an acceptable or reasonable peace. But with what we have heard and seen the Sudanese government doing, our hope of getting peace agreement is getting slim,” the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement delegation, Ahmed Mohammed Tugod [photo], told AFP.

“The government is not serious or committed at all to solve the problem in Darfur,” he said.

He alleged that over the past 48 hours government-backed Janjaweed militia forces had attacked villages in Darfur, killing dozens of civilians. The African Union, which has sent ceasefire monitors to Darfur, was unable to confirm the claims.

“We are not planning to pull out of the Abuja talks at any time. We will remain and send a clear message to the United Nations and the international community on the various violations of UN accords by the government in Khartoum,” Tugod said.

The rebel leader expressed satisfaction with the UN report on the humanitarian situation in Darfur, which was presented Thursday to the conference, describing it as a true reflection of the situation.

The rebels will present their own picture of the situation to the conference on Saturday, when negotiations resume after a one-day break, he said.

Tugod also warned that the fighting could spread from Darfur to eastern Sudan if the government does not take the opportunity of the Abuja talks to reach a broad political settlement with minority black African ethnic groups who feel themselves economically and politically marginalised.

Khartoum’s “deep and racist policy of Arabisation” was at the origin of various crises and conflicts afflicting the country since independence in 1956, he alleged.

The African Union peace talks opened in the Nigerian capital on Monday and are expected to extend well into next week if not beyond. A second rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement, is represented along with the government.