Darfur rebel SLA pledges to respect truce amid fears of escalation

KHARTOUM, Nov 25 (AFP) — One of the main rebel groups in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region pledged Thursday to fully respect a truce with Khartoum amid a flurry of contradictory statements and international concern about an escalation in fighting.

Rebels from the Sudan Liberation Movement patrol on the way to their base in Gellab, Darfur.. (AFP).

“The SLM is committed to fully respecting the truce and all the agreements reached since the ceasefire,” Sudan Liberation Movement leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur told AFP in Cairo.

“We say to humanitarian organisations that the SLM is ready to guarantee to them the security to continue working in Darfur,” Nur added.

Last year, rebels signed a deal with the government to end hostilities in the now 21-month-old conflict, which each side has regularly accused the other of violating, followed up by a security protocol signed in Abuja earlier this month.

Nur’s comments came a day after a spokesman for the group said it considered the truce accords null and void — triggering one state in Darfur to go on “maximum alert”.

The conflict began in February 2003 when rebels rose up against what they allege is the political and economic marginalisation of black Africans by the Arab-led government.

Khartoum’s response was to unleash the Arab Janjaweed, who have been blamed by Western officials and aid workers for killings, rape and widespread violations of human rights.

More than 70,000 people have been killed or have died from hunger and disease in the area, according to the United Nations, which calls it the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Another 1.5 million people have been displaced.

On Wednesday, SLM London-based spokesman Mahjoub Hussein said the group considered truce deals signed with Khartoum null and void, warning that it would resume fighting and seek to oust the government.

“All the war now is starting again,” he said. “We are ready for everything.”

The recent escalation of fighting has cast doubt on whether a scheduled meeting Thursday of a joint ceasefire observation committee in Chad would take place.

In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit held talks on the search for peace in Sudan with the UN’s envoy for the war-torn country, Jan Pronk.

Afterwards, Pronk expressed “deep worry” about the situation and called on the rebels to abide by agreements they signed. He said any violence initiated by the rebel side would inflict greater harm on their cause.

Abul Gheit said his country shared Pronk’s concern.

“Unfortunately, fighting is continuing in this region,” he told reporters, and called on the warring parties to stop the violence “urgently.”

The United States has accused Khartoum of carrying out “genocide” through its proxy militias and on Wednesday demanded the immediate end to unrest in Darfur.

“The United States strongly condemns the escalating violence and continued ceasefire violations taking place in Darfur,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

“This fighting must stop immediately,” he said, branding the violence “a clear violation” of ceasefire and security deals.

“The latest incidents of violence were instigated by the Sudan Liberation Movement Army, and they have resulted in the suspension of humanitarian activities in the areas of fighting,” he said.

“This has caused increased suffering to the civilian population, and our message to the Sudan Liberation Movement Army is clear. The international community expects that all violence stop and agreements reached be honored.”

Ereli urged all parties in Sudan to cooperate with the 3,000-strong African Union force deployed in Darfur to monitor the ceasefire.

But a pro-government media service in Khartoum said that 15 rebels were killed by Arab tribesmen after they attacked a village in South Darfur on Wednesday, killing an unknown number of civilians.

The report by the Sudanese Media Centre could not be confirmed immediately

In the Hague, a joint parliamentary assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific bloc of poor and developing nations and the European Union passed a resolution Thursday calling for a comprehensive peace deal for Sudan.

Delegates also called for a halt to the sale of weapons to all sides in Sudan’s conflicts, and for the perpetrators of crimes related to the wars to be identified and brought to justice.

Meanwhile, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross is due in Khartoum later Thursday for talks on the conflict before a visit to Darfur to see the situation at first hand.