Darfur rebels walk out of Sudan peace talks
By Tume Ahemba
ABUJA, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Sudan’s two Darfur rebel groups walked out of peace talks in Nigeria for 24 hours on Saturday, accusing the Sudanese government of violating a ceasefire and fuelling the humanitarian crisis in the region.
The rebels blamed the Sudanese government for the deaths of 75 more civilians in Darfur in the last three days.
“Today, a whole village has been torched. That is why the two movements have decided to boycott the talks for 24 hours to mourn our people,” said Sharif Harir, a negotiator for the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) rebel group.
The talks, in the Nigerian capital Abuja, are aimed at ending a conflict that began with a rebel offensive in February 2003 after years of low-level fighting between Arab nomads and mainly African farmers over scarce resources.
Up to 50,000 have died since the conflict began and more than a million Darfuris have fled their homes for fear of attack by Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, mobilised by the government as auxiliaries in a campaign to crush the rebels.
Khartoum says the attacks on Darfuris were carried out by “outlaws” and it is not responsible for their actions.
The boycott came two days ahead of an Aug. 30 deadline set by the U.N. Security Council for Sudan to improve security for refugees or face possible sanctions.
Sudanese officials said the rebels had sabotaged the talks to embarrass the government before the U.N. deadline.
“We don’t think our brothers are serious about finding a lasting solution to this problem,” said Sudan’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Najib Abdulwahab.
The rebels are demanding power-sharing measures similar to those agreed to end 21 years of war in Sudan’s south, saying they have been subjugated by the dominance of an Arab ruling class for decades.
Both rebels and the government have accused each other of attacks on each other’s territory during the talks, which began last Monday, and which are being brokered by the African Union.
The African Union released a statement asking its ceasefire commission to immediately investigate the rebels’ allegations. African Union delegates said the meeting would resume on Sunday.
ACCESS IMPROVING
Rights groups have accused Khartoum of restricting food and medical supplies to the refugees housed in makeshift camps in Darfur, although international monitors say access is improving.
U.N. and Sudanese government officials are touring Darfur, and U.N. special envoy Jan Pronk is expected to brief U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan before Monday’s deadline.
Visting camps in Darfur, Pronk said that food security had improved but that there was more fear among the people than he had anticipated.
Refugees in camps visited by Pronk have complained that human rights abuses continue, with Janjaweed agents infiltrating the camps or attacking refugees who strayed from them.
Fleeing the violence, an estimated 200,000 people have crossed into neighbouring Chad.
On Saturday, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) began transporting food through a desert route from Libya to refugee camps in eastern Chad housing victims of the Darfur conflict.
Opening up a corridor between the Libyan Mediterranean port city of Benghazi and Chad would help aid to reach the region, said Pierre Carrasse, Chief Logistics Officer at the WFP.
A convoy of 20 lorries, carrying 440 metric tonnes of wheat flour, set off on Saturday on a trial run from the Libyan desert city of Al Kufra to eastern Chad. The run would test road conditions and safety and take 10-15 days, the WFP said.