African mediators press Sudan and rebel groups on Darfur refugee crisis

ABUJA, Aug 30 (AFP) — African mediators were striving on Monday to persuade Sudan’s government and its rebel foes to agree a plan to end the suffering of Darfur’s beleaguered civilians and head off the risk of tougher UN action.

A UN Security Council deadline for Sudan to ensure the safety of more than 1.2 million people who have been driven from their homes by militia attacks expired on Sunday, and the world body is due to discuss Sudan this week.

Although member states appear to have backed away from a threat of immediate economic sanctions, Khartoum could still face tough diplomatic measures if they conclude it has failed to honour an agreement to improve security in Darfur.

And with a senior UN official in Nairobi reporting that the harassment and gang rape of displaced people by the government’s Janjaweed militia is still common, African leaders are keen to show signs of progress at the talks.

Delegates returned to the negotiating table planning to hear a rebel report on the humanitarian situation before moving on to hopefully agree a common strategy for rescuing the refugees from misery and violence, officials said.

But an earlier dispute over an alleged attack by pro-government Arab fighters last week on a black African minority village in southern Darfur — which rebels said left 64 civilians dead — continued to hang over the talks.

A statement from the office of AU chairman President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria said that ceasefire monitors had confirmed the attack took place, despite Khartoum’s denials, and warned the government to rein in the militia.

“He has written to President Omar Hassan el-Bashir asking him to ensure that all attacks by government forces and the Janjaweed cease forthwith,” it said.

The statment warned that “the international community might draw the conclusion that the Abuja talks are being undermined.”

Delegates said they expected Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo, the Nigerian commander of the AU observers in Darfur, to brief them later Monday.

Last week, the African Union brought both the government and the rebels to the Nigerian capital Abuja in a bid to thrash out a solution to the 18-month-old crisis and reinforce a six-month-old ceasefire in Darfur.

Progress in the first week of peace talks was slow, with both sides accusing the other of breaching the truce and attacking civilians, but AU mediators are hopeful that the groups can agree now at least on the humanitarian issue.

“A compromise position needs to be reached in order to move talks forward and to convince the international community that what is going on in Abuja is not just a talking shop,” a senior Nigerian negotiator told AFP at the talks.

Libyan, Nigerian, African Union and United Nations officials have drawn up a consensus position on what needs to be done to improve the humanitarian situation, which they hope the parties will accept later Monday.

“The ideas put forward will be considered by a committee so that we might have a draft agreement. We will be in a position to consider that agreement,” Sudan’s deputy foreign minister Najeib Abdulwad said on Sunday.

The lead negotiator of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Ahmed Mohammed Tugod, said: “We are looking forward to a reasonable formula that could bring a quick resolution to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.”

But, in a sign that further squabbling may lie ahead, he accused the government side of using “delaying tactics in order to relieve the pressure of the international community.”

Discussion on the humanitarian situation in Darfur is the first item on the agenda of talks in Abuja without which other issues such as security and an eventual political settlement cannot be taken on, delegates said.

According to UN estimates, during the 18-month-old conflict more than 1.4 million people have fled their homes and more than 30,000 have been killed, many of them in government raids against black African tribes seen as rebel sympathisers.

The UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, is expected to report to the Security Council on Thursday on what progress has been made in returning stability to Darfur since the UN gave Khartoum a 30-day ultimatum on July 30.

A senior UN refugee expert, Dennis McNamara, said in Nairobi on Monday that Sudan was not doing enough to protect the displaced and that militiamen were carrying out gang rapes and harassing civilians with impunity.

“There is a protection crisis in Darfur today, in terms of us not being able to adequately protect the displaced civilian population,” he said.

And in a sign of mounting international pressure, Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said that her country would favour sanctions if Khartoum failed to disarm the Janajweed and ensure the safety of civilians.