Sudan talks in Nigeria deadlocked – rebels, diplomats
By Tume Ahemba
ABUJA, Sept 6 (Reuters) – After two weeks of talks to end the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region, government and rebel negotiators remain far apart on key security issues, including disarming warring factions, rebels and diplomats said on Monday.
African Union (AU) negotiators hosting the talks in Nigeria’s capital Abuja have presented a security draft agreement to be ratified by the two sides.
But so far not one of five major points on the agenda has been agreed, sources at the talks said.
“The draft looks nice but both sides are asking for more, especially the government,” one diplomat, who asked not to be named, told Reuters in Nigeria.
Rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spokesman Ahmed Hussain Adam expressed frustration for JEM and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) during a break in the discussion.
“We, the two rebel movements, are not optimistic about the talks because of some of the demands made by the Sudanese government. There is a wide gap between their position and our position,” he said.
Talks adjourned on Monday evening with rebels and the Sudan government delegations concluding separate meetings with AU mediators.
A plenary session involving all three parties is scheduled to be held on Tuesday to try and reach a security agreement, officials said.
More than a million Darfuris have fled their homes in the past 19 months for fear of attack by Arab militia mobilised by the government as auxiliaries in a campaign to crush a rebel uprising.
Aid workers and rebels say Janjaweed militias have looted and burned villages and raped and murdered civilians. The United Nations says up to 50,000 people have been killed.
Khartoum says it does not control the Janjaweed, who it calls outlaws, and is not responsible for their actions. But it has agreed with a U.N. demand to try to disarm them.
So far, the U.N.’s envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk says Sudan has not done so.
“It is very important that we put much more pressure on the government (of Sudan),” Pronk said in Oslo on Monday, adding Khartoum had “a history of promises unkept and talks always being postponed. That has to change.”
The European Union says it will draw up sanctions against Khartoum, including possibly sanctions on its oil industry, which could be enacted at the request of the United Nations.
SECURITY DEADLOCK
Negotiators in Abuja have agreed on humanitarian issues but the rebels have refused to sign them pending an agreement on security issues and in turn say no security agreement will be signed until a political accord is reached.
The AU has set out a proposal to try to reach the security deal but the five major points have met with objections from one side or the other.
Among them is a point that calls for the Janjaweed to be disarmed. But the Sudanese government does not want to do that until the rebels are moved into containment areas, a source at the talks said.
Rebels want an international human rights tribunal established for Darfur. The AU document called for the Sudanese government to “swiftly bring to justice those suspected of being involved in human rights abuses in a transparent manner”. The rebels say that Sudan will not do this.
The AU calls for the implementation of a ceasefire agreement, but the rebels accuse the government of continued attacks on civilians.
There are currently more than 300 AU troops in Sudan to protect ceasefire observers and the AU has proposed sending more troops to Sudan to bolster security. While rebels back that idea, the Sudanese government has so far rejected the offer.
The rebels are demanding power- and wealth-sharing measures, saying they have been subjugated for decades by an Arab ruling clique in Khartoum that has systematically marginalised their people.
(Additional reporting by Alister Doyle in Oslo)