Rebels see positive role for Gaddafi in Darfur

TRIPOLI, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Darfur rebels back a mediation role for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who African leaders meeting in Tripoli commissioned to make contacts to help solve the conflict in western Sudan, spokesmen said on Monday.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi listens during a meeting on Sudan’s Darfur region, in Tripoli, Libya Sunday Oct. 17, 2004.

“We think he (Gaddafi) can play a vital role,” said Idriss Ibrahim Azraq, spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), adding that Libya was host to a large number of Darfuri migrants, creating strong ties between Libya and Darfur.

A representative of the other main Darfur rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), also said Gaddafi could play a positive role.

The leaders of Libya, Sudan, Chad, Egypt and Nigeria met the Libyan leader on Sunday to discuss the conflict in western Sudan, which the United Nations says has killed 70,000 people and driven 1.5 million from their homes since it began in February 2003.

They commissioned Gaddafi to continue contacts with all parties to the conflict until a solution is found.

Rebels accuse the government in Khartoum of neglecting their region, a vast area with scarce resources. They also say the government has armed Arab Janjaweed militia to attack African villages and kill the inhabitants, a charge Sudan denies.

The U.N. Security Council has threatened Sudan with possible sanctions if it does not end the violence in Darfur.

Rebels said Libya was a neutral player which could bring parties to the conflict closer. Tripoli’s ties with its neighbours have often been volatile but it has also often sought to mediate African conflicts.

Rebels were more sceptical about the role in the summit of Egypt and Chad, which rebels see as siding with Sudan.

JEM and the SLM were in Tripoli before the summit, but have yet to meet Gaddafi or hold high-level meetings with Libyan officials.

The five African leaders gave their support to African Union-sponsored peace talks due to resume in Abuja on Thursday after collapsing last month.

“Our position is that it (the summit) is a distraction from the real venue which is the AU and we think that is the place to deal with the Darfur problem right now,” said Nahar Osman, spokesman for the SLM, also in Tripoli.

The African leaders also said they welcomed Sudan’s efforts to meet international commitments and hoped Sudan would continue with steps to fulfil U.N. resolutions.

The rebel spokesmen feared the group might have been seeking to lighten the pressure on Sudan.

“We think that (reducing pressure) is not the right approach to solve the problem. The government will not respond unless there is more pressure,” Azraq said.