Darfur rebels still hope for peace, US aims for Sudan sanctions
ABUJA, Sept 16 (AFP) — Darfur’s rebel Sudan Liberation Movement insisted that African Union-brokered peace talks have not broken down irretrievably, as mediators confirmed that the two rebel groups were still in consultations to restore peace.
“We do not think the negotiations have failed and we are ready to continue the negotiations,” said Abduljabbar Dofa on behalf of the SLM.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the other rebel group involved in the talks which began three weeks ago but have struggled to make any progress, on Wednesday told AFP that the negotiations with the Khartoum government had collapsed.
Mohammed Ahmed Tugod, the chief negotiator for the JEM said: “The negotiations have collapsed already because there are differences, strong differences between us and the Sudanese government.”
Meanwhile, the United States has said it will push for a vote by Friday on a UN resolution it brought before the Security Council despite the possible veto from China.
The US draft resolution threatens to impose sanctions on Sudan’s oil industry if Khartoum does not rein in an Arab militia behind a spiral of violence in Darfur that has left an estimated 50,000 people dead and almost 1.5 million displaced.
“Anyone who vetoes will have to explain why they did not help protect the people of Darfur,” said a spokesman for US ambassador John Danforth.
The United States last week qualified the war in Darfur as genocide, and laid responsibility for the slaughter on Khartoum and its proxy Janjaweed militia.
China refused Thursday to rule out using its veto on the resolution.
“The draft resolution tabled by the United States should not be put forward unless it involves the concerns of the members of the Security Council and also the African nations and the African Union,” foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.
“Our position is clear, this is a very complicated issue, … we think sanctions will not solve the problem. On the contrary, it will only complicate matters given the current situation.”
One of the chief mediators at the talks in Abuja, Chad’s Hamad Allammi, told AFP that the two rebel movements were in consultations in Abuja, despite the main negotiations having stalled.
“Negotiations between rebels are continuing. Everyone agrees that the negotiations should continue. From our viewpoint, we can’t say this has failed,” he said.
“There will probably be a suspension… you can’t resolve a problem as complicated as this in a few days,” he said, responding to the JEM rebel group’s statement late Wednesday that the talks had broken down.
“The AU is now suggesting to suspend the talks for four weeks, and for us it as if the talks have collapsed,” JEM spokesman Mohammed Ahmed Tugod said late Wednesday.
The JEM refused to sign a humanitarian protocol until an agreement has been reached with Khartoum about security in Darfur.
ABUJA, Sept 16 (AFP) — Darfur’s rebel Sudan Liberation Movement insisted that African Union-brokered peace talks have not broken down irretrievably, as mediators confirmed that the two rebel groups were still in consultations to restore peace.
The AU-brokered peace talks got off to a slow start three weeks ago, as the two sides disagreed over what was to be on the agenda, and then hit another major hurdle one week ago when the Khartoum government rejected an AU draft protocol on security and disarmament.
Khartoum rejected the proposals on the grounds that they “contradict obligations that we have already undertaken” and “glossed over four basic areas,” including outlining the obligations of both sides to the conflict and clearly defining who was part of the Janjaweed “so that the government will know how and where to disarm them.”
The Janjaweed militia was allegedly given a free rein by Khartoum to crack down on the rebels when they rose up against Khartoum in February last year, and are accused of conducting a scorched earth policy in Darfur and committing atrocities against the region’s black African population.