Darfur talks break as rebels demand clear agenda

By DANIEL BALINT-KURTI, Associated Press Writer

ABUJA, Nigeria, Oct 26, 2004 (AP) — A second day of peace talks on the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region broke off early Tuesday, when rebels refused face-to-face talks with the government until the African Union meets separately with both sides to draft an agenda.

Sudanese women and children from the camp of Krinding dig for fresh water in an empty riverbed.

Delegates said the African Union-brokered talks in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, would resume Wednesday.

The talks opened Monday with each side accusing the other of violating a cease-fire repeatedly over the last several days.

Sudan Liberation Army spokesman Mahgoub Hussain said Tuesday that his rebel group would meet with the government only if a talks agenda was agreed first. He said he wanted the African Union, which is chairing the talks, to meet separately with each side on the draft.

On Monday, planned talks on key security issues — including disarmament of rebels and pro-government militias — stalled for similar reasons.

“It’s the same problem … we need to know the agenda,” Hussain said.

On Monday, the Justice and Equality Movement rebel group accused the government of bombing towns around the eastern Darfur town of Allaiat, a key base of the group. The bombings late last week displaced around 7,000 people and put the success of the talks in doubt, the rebel group said. It could give no casualty details.

Sudanese officials said government forces were only defending their positions from rebel attack.

During the break in talks until Wednesday, African Union officials and Western diplomats will meet separately with the government and the two rebel groups to work on the sensitive security issues keeping aid workers from reaching hundreds of thousands of refugees, said Ahmed Hussain Adam, spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement.

The crisis in Sudan’s western region began in February 2003 when rebels rose up against the Arab-dominated government, claiming discrimination in the distribution of scarce resources. Pro-government militias called Janjaweed reacted by attacking Darfur villages.

The United Nations has called Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and said it has claimed 70,000 lives through disease and hunger since March, while 1.5 million have fled their homes since February 2003. No reliable figures are available for those killed by violence

Before talks ended Tuesday, Sudanese government spokesman Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahim said the government would propose giving areas in Darfur more autonomy under a federal system that could include a parliament for every region.

“We see the solution to the political issue as lying in … the federal solution in Darfur,” he said.

An earlier round of peace talks in Nigeria ended without agreement in September, after rebels refused to sign a humanitarian accord giving aid organizations wider access to refugees. Rebels insist they will not sign the already-drafted accord without an accompanying security agreement.

A key sticking point in reaching a security deal is a government demand the insurgents disarm. The Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement insist the Janjaweed must first be disarmed.

The Justice and Equality Movement said the two rebel groups would also push for a no-fly zone over Darfur.

The U.N. Security Council has said it would consider sanctions if the Sudanese government fails to disarm all militia and restore peace.

Jan Pronk, the top U.N. envoy for Sudan, said the U.N. Security Council would meet in Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 18-20 to discuss the crisis.

Last week, the African Union agreed to increase its peacekeeping force in Darfur from 390 to 3,320. The larger force is expected to be fully deployed early next month.

Nigerian army spokesman Col. Mohammed Yusuf, said 196 Nigerian peacekeeping troops were ready to leave for Darfur from their southeastern base of Abak, and were just waiting for the African Union to arrange their transport.