Sudanese rebels squabble with government over ceasefire violations

ABUJA, Aug 28 (AFP) — Sudanese rebels walked away from African Union peace talks here to hold a 24-hour boycott in protest at alleged government attacks on civilians in the war-torn western province of Darfur.

And on the eve of a UN Security Council deadline for Sudan to disarm Darfur’s pro-government militia and ensure the safety of more than 1.2 million displaced civilians, Khartoum’s envoys insisted they had already done enough.

But as the two sides squabbled in Abuja over alleged ceasefire abuses, UN officials in Sudan warned that the conditions were not yet in place for the refugees to return to their homes and called on the government to do more.

Ahmed Tugod, a spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, and Shereef Harir, chief negotiator of the Sudan Liberation Movement, alleged that government forces had attacked the village of Yassin three days ago.

In an open letter to the host of the six-day-old Abuja conference, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, they announced a 24-hour talks boycott and accused Khartoum of not being serious about reaching a negotiated peace.

Tugod said the pause would allow the rebels to “mourn the people who have been killed this morning, yesterday and the day before.

“We will continue the talks at the end of these 24 hours,” he added.

Specifically, Tugod alleged that on August 25 Sudanese government forces attacked the village of Yassin, near Nyala in southern Darfur.

The rebels claimed that 64 civilians were killed but Sudanese officials deny any attack took place.

The acting head of the African Union’s conflict management centre, Wane El-Ghassin, said that AU ceasefire monitors would investigate the allegation.

“This round of allegations is having a direct impact on the talks,” he admitted. “We expect that the talks will resume tomorrow afternoon, possibly by five o’clock (1600 GMT).”

Sudan’s deputy foreign minister Najeib Abdulwad said: “We regret the withdrawal of our brothers on the other side on the basis of claims of attack.”

“When there are attacks there is a mechanism for monitoring which has been put in place by the African Union in Darfur. We don’t think what our brothers have reported today has any chance of being true,” he said.

“Maybe our brothers are not ready for talks,” he suggested.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa, Sudan’s chief negotiator in Abuja, said that despite Sunday’s Security Council deadline, he did not expect the international community to take action against his government.

The UN Security Council is expected to debate the issue of Darfur on Monday, when it will receive a negative report from UN observers before deciding what, if any, steps to take to punish Khartoum.

“We are doing our work successfully on the ground,” he told reporters.

“The interim report that goes to the Security Council suggests significant improvement in all the camps in Darfur and even outside the camps, where there are observer groups,” he added.

“The improvement on the ground on all issues should be taken into consideration by the Security Council and the international community and we are cooperating very well with them,” he said.

The rebels were angrily dismissive of the minister’s claims.

“They are not serious about peaceful settlement. They only apply delaying tactics to delay UN sanctions,” said the coordinator of the Sudan Liberation Movement and Sudan Liberation Army delegation, Adam Ali Shogar.

And in Khartoum, senior UN official Erick Deumuhl, said that while the situation of the displaced had improved, security around the camps was “still problematic” with reports of “attacks and abuses when people venture outside.”

Before the talks broke down, delegates had heard a damning UN presentation on the humanitarian situation.

According to the report, presented this week to delegates by the United Nations and seen by AFP, a total of 1,498,802 people have been left vulnerable by Darfur’s 18-month-old conflict between government and rebel forces.

“General insecurity persists with continuing violence by various armed groups, banditry and lawlessness. There are clear indications that Khartoum security agents are systematically harassing and intimidating the internally displaced persons in a scheme aimed at forcing them out of camps,” it said.

“At nearly every IDP location in the area, Arab militias continue to patrol … reports of rape, beatings, disappearances, and looting continue.”

The rebel groups represented in Abuja have said they will not stand down their forces until they win a full political settlement.

The rebels claim that the various black African minority groups in their region and other parts of Sudan are politically and economically excluded by the Arab elite which has ruled in Khartoum since independence in 1956.