Sudan’s president calls on Darfur rebels to hold talks to end conflict
By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Nov 01, 2004 (AP) — Sudan’s president appealed to rebels in conflict-torn Darfur on Monday to work with his government to end a 20-month conflict that has killed thousands.
Omar el-Bashir said his government wanted to secure peace in Darfur, but “the enemies of Sudan everywhere are trying to obstruct the peace process.”
Sudan’s Arab-dominated government is accused of mobilizing an Arab militia known as the Janjaweed for attacks on Darfur’s non-Arab villagers in retaliation for uprisings launched by two rebel movements in February 2003. Arab herdsmen have long competed for resources with Darfur’s non-Arab population.
The Sudanese government has denied links to the violence and said the U.N.’s death toll of 70,000 is hugely exaggerated, putting the number killed at around 7,000. No reliable figures are available for those killed by violence.
The United Nations has called Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and said 1.5 million people have fled their homes since the fighting began.
In a speech in Khartoum during 15th anniversary celebrations for Sudan’s paramilitary Popular Defense Forces, el-Bashir appealed to Darfur’s rebels to help his government end the conflict so “we can build this homeland of ours, build it together and rehabilitate it together.”
The Popular Defense Forces have been blamed for committing various acts of violence against African tribespeople in west Sudan’s three Darfur states. It is unclear how many paramilitary forces operate in Darfur, but they are believed to outnumber the more than 60,000 army and police personnel stationed throughout the region.
In an apparent bid to reject claims by some countries, particularly the United States, that genocide has been committed in Darfur, el-Bashir praised the region’s people and said as Muslims that they “would never commit such horrible crimes” as mass killings and rapes.
On Sunday in Nigeria during African Union-sponsored talks, Sudan’s government expressed optimism on reaching a long-term political solution to the Darfur crisis after listening to a rebel group’s proposals.
The smaller of the two rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement, made a “declaration of principles” at a session on Sunday, calling for greater representation at the national level and more local powers for Darfur.
The proposals went further than plans for devolution of power presented earlier in the week by the government.
Rebel spokesman Ahmed Hussain Adam said the government’s proposals for devolved powers to Darfur’s three states — including their own elected parliaments — were “empty statements.” He called for Darfur’s ethnic groups to be represented in Sudan’s presidency, and for the restructuring of the army and the civil service to include more people from Darfur and other regions.
“I think the demands being made are all reasonable and acceptable,” said Abdel Rahim Kalil, the Sudanese ambassador to Nigeria and a member of Sudan’s delegation at the talks.
The larger of the two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army, said fresh bombing raids by the Sudanese army in Darfur were imperiling moves toward peace.
Spokesman Mahgoub Hussain said his rebel group was also not ready to compromise on some of its key demands, including its call for a secular state. This should include doing away with Sudan’s Islamic legal code.