Sudan govt, rebels still at odds on Darfur deal

By Silvia Aloisi

ABUJA, Nov 3 (Reuters) – African Union mediators said they hoped to wrap up peace talks on Sudan’s Darfur conflict by Thursday even as the government and two rebel groups raised fresh objections to a proposed security agreement.

Allam-mi Ahmad, who is chairing the talks in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, acknowledged on Wednesday a deal on security, designed to stop violence that has displaced more than 1.5 million people, was not yet in the bag.

“Last night we considered the accord adopted, but then both sides came up with some objections,” he told Reuters. “We think we can wrap the talks up tomorrow, possibly with an agreement.”

The slow-moving peace negotiations started 10 days ago against a backdrop of rising tension in Darfur. Both sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations during the talks and aid workers said on Tuesday the Sudanese army and police had surrounded several refugee camps in Darfur.

The government delegation said that was to protect the refugees from possible retaliation attacks after the kidnapping of 18 Arab civilians by the rebels.

The security proposal requires the government to make good on pledges to disarm their Arab and Janjaweed allies and identify any other militias they have been supporting.

It calls for an end to “hostile military flights” over Darfur — a concession to the rebels who say government planes are still bombing villages in the region.

The document also urges both sides to cooperate with the African Union (AU) ceasefire commission and say where their forces are located — something the rebels have so far been reluctant to accept.

CLEAR DEFINITION

Mediators said the government delegation wanted a clear definition in the text of what was meant by Janjaweed — a term which loosely translates as “devils on horseback” and has become a byword for atrocities in Darfur.

Khartoum denies any links to the Janjaweed and says they are outlaws, arguing they are one of many armed groups separate from legitimate counter-insurgency paramilitary groups.

The government was also disputing the clause on military flights, saying it had the right to fly its military aircraft over Darfur in self-defence.

The rebels in turn say they want more details on how the government will disarm the militias and insist on Darfur being declared a no-fly zone.

“These are the two main sticking points,” Allam-mi Ahmad said.

The United Nations says Darfur is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, which has killed around 70,000 people through disease and malnutrition since March. There are no reliable figures for how many people have died in the fighting.

The dispute over the security accord is holding up the signing of an already-agreed humanitarian protocol — which would grant unfettered access to aid workers in Darfur — and triggered the collapse of a previous round of talks in Abuja.

The African Union is expanding its force in Darfur to more than 3,300. The troops’ main job is to monitor a shaky ceasefire agreed in April, but their mandate also includes protecting civilians threatened with immediate harm.

The Darfur rebellion began in February 2003 after years of low-level fighting between mainly African farmers and Arab nomads over scarce resources. The rebels accuse Khartoum of neglecting Darfur and using the Janjaweed to loot and burn non-Arab villages.