Sudanese peace talks restart after rebel boycott as UN deadline expires

ABUJA, Aug 28 (AFP) — Sudanese peace talks restarted here at the end of a one-day boycott called by rebel groups in protest at alleged government attacks on civilians, and as a UN deadline for action on the Darfur crisis expired.

Sudanese government envoys and their rebel foes in the Darfur region’s 18-month-old civil conflict returned to the negotiating table just after 6.00 pm (1700 GMT), delegates told AFP at the conference venue in Abuja.

The talks had been halted for 24 hours after the insurgents staged a walkout to protest an alleged massacre by government forces in an ethnic minority community in southern Darfur, an attack which Khartoum denied.

Rebel negotiator Ahmed Mohammed Tugod of the Justice and Equality Movement confirmed that his side would return to the table, but warned that they would return to the issue as they presented a report into the humanitarian situation.

He welcomed an offer by the AU to investigate the alleged August 26 attack on the village of Yassin, but warned that his side expected quick results.

“We are expecting the report of their investigation before meeting resumes today,” he said.

“We are going to attend the meeting today even if the report has not come. But we will raise the issue again with the AU when the meeting re-opens.”

“Between August 26 and this morning a total of 83 civilians have been killed in attacks by Sudanese government forces. If the situation continues this way, it will lead to the collapse of the talks,” he told AFP.

Sudan dismisses the rebel claims as propaganda and a distraction from the job of working towards a negotiated settlement in Darfur, while AU ceasefire monitors have yet to confirm or deny the reported killings.

But the United Nations (news – web sites) and human rights agencies have in the past been very critical of the Sudanese government, accusing them of failing to rein in their feared Janjaweed Arab militia and of intimidating minority refugees.

According to UN estimates, more than 1.4 million people have been driven from their homes and more than 30,000 killed, many of them in Janjaweed sweeps against black African civilians seen as sympathetic to the rebels.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to report to the Security Council on what if any progress has been made in returning stability to Darfur since the body gave Khartoum a 30-day ultimatum on July 30.

The Sudanese government insists it has done enough to quieten an implied threat of political action or even sanctions from the international community, and says it wants to reach a negotiated settlement in Abuja.

For their part, the rebels accuse Khartoum of pursuing their attacks on Darfur’s minority tribes and of using the AU process as a means of distracting the international community.

“Admittedly, our walkout may have slowed down the talks, but the inability of the Sudanese government to disarm and disband the Janjaweed is slowing down the talks more,” Tugod said.

The rebels claim that their area and others have been politically and economically marginalised by Khartoum’s Arab elite since independence in 1956.

UN envoys on the ground in Darfur say the general humanitarian situation has improved with the authorities giving greater cooperation to aid agencies, but warn that many problems — including Janjaweed attacks — remain.

“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,” a UN report said.

“At nearly every IDP location in the area, Arab militias continue to patrol … reports of rape, beatings, disappearances, and looting continue,” the paper, which was presented to talks delegates on Thursday, continued.

No closing date has been set for the Abuja talks, which are expected to continue for many days or weeks.